I’m a Texan so I may be a little biased but new research shows it’s a good time to do business here and in our neighboring states – Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas, known as TOLA.
Like many in the state, I came to Texas from elsewhere in the country but I’ve been here for my entire adult life and I’m proud to think of myself as a Texan. And these days, I’m even more proud given how well the state and its neighbors have been doing recently.
At a presentation at the excellent recent Gift & Home Trade Association conference earlier this month, some new research shows how strong business conditions are in the region called TOLA. That’s Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas if you’re not familiar with the acronym.
The new research shows that business, as measured by the dollar volume of orders for the gift and home industry in these four states, has grown faster over the past decade than in any other region in the nation. In fact, some 20% of all orders written now come from the TOLA region, up from just under 11% a decade ago. Texas and its neighbors have been outperforming most of the rest of the country for years and it’s because of a combination of factors. We have a pro-business climate here that did especially well during the early years of the pandemic.
We have a balanced economic base: even though many people think we’re all about oil and gas, in fact, Texas is the number one state for solar in the country and has robust industries in banking, finance, and aerospace. We have the worldwide headquarters for the largest electric vehicle producer in the world, Tesla. The neighboring states have benefited from their adjacencies and all have solid economic bases of their own, from energy in Oklahoma and Louisiana to Arkansas, the home of the world’s largest retailing corporation, Walmart.
I like to think the Dallas Market Center has helped make our strong economy in the TOLA region thrive. We have been a solid supporter of this regional economy and have helped the companies, both on the vendor and retailer sides, who do business here. It’s one of the key reasons our market center has one of the highest occupancy rates in the business and why our attendance has bounced back after the pandemic faster and more robustly than virtually any other show organizer in the fashion, gift, and home sectors.
Our leadership role in combining fashion and home in one cohesive market center, the ease of doing business here, and all the extras we offer, the second issue of which you are now reading – continue to make for the kind of environment where business gets done. And our BBQ is pretty good too.
Have a great month and see you in November!
Cindy Morris,
CEO, Dallas Market Center
