As we get into February, we’re just now coming up for air after a wild January. Across all our markets in gift, home, fashion and western and equestrian, despite facing some headwinds of economic uncertainty, and even some winter winds, we experienced a month of steady attendance and confident buying.
Of course, every exhibitor and every attendee had their own experience and their own story to tell. But the January shows delivered more buyers to DMC than in several years and a significant increase in first-time attendees. This last point is especially important as we work together to deliver new buyers from coast to coast and internationally.
What I found most fascinating was the crossover in buyers who might have come in for one show and then ended up working one of the other events on campus. We saw gift stores attending the Apparel & Accessories Market or western stores attending the Men's Show or interior designers experiencing Lightovation. We’ve always said this was best thing about Dallas, our ability to offer a total lifestyle for buyers, allowing them to shop multiple categories under one roof. I can’t tell you how good this felt for all of us who have worked so hard to make it happen.
A few specifics for you. Our Total Home & Gift Market began strong, had a pause in buyers arriving once winter weather hit, but then ended up with attendance equal to last year's January show. In fact, the back half of the show, which is typically slower, ended up being stronger in terms of registration. Perhaps most remarkable was that 27 percent of the attendees were either new to Dallas or hadn’t been here in some time.
Our Lightovation market experienced the strongest growth in first-time attendees. Because we are the home of lighting for North America, the attendance was more broadly coast to coast and international. We also widened the type of buyer by welcoming more interior designers.
When it came to our Dallas Fashion Week all I can say is that the traffic and energy were tremendous. Taken together, the Apparel & Accessories Market, KidsWorld, AETA and Men's Show had a significant attendance increase and an impressive 30% of buyers attending were either new or back after a break. While the WESA show is managed by that organization, we know that attendance for the western market was strong, and the grand opening of our new neighborhood of showrooms on the 10th floor was highly successful.
We’re proud of how we did for you in January but we’re always looking to do better. And you’ll hear about some of these improvements soon. As always, we welcome your suggestions and feedback.
In the meantime, I don’t know about you, but I’m catching my breath...just a little because we’ve already gotten started for spring.
Cindy Morris,
CEO, Dallas Market Center
