Pooltradeshow's New Digs
LAS VEGAS—Change was the most dominant trend at the Pooltradeshow, which ran Feb. 12–14 in its new home, a 35,000-squarefoot space in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central Hall. The trade show was separated by a curtain from the MAGIC Marketplace’s casual lifestyle section. (In August, Pool was housed under a 100,000-square-foot, circus-style tent, located in a parking lot adjacent to the convention center’s North Hall.)
Show manager Stephanie Seeley said the new space required the trade show to put on a sleeker look. The emerging-labels show shed 10 percent of its vendors, and Seeley said she merchandised the show like a store. Buyers browsed among a variety of categories, including eco fashion, T-shirts, accessories and even beauty products. “If you have too much of one thing, you won’t sell anything,” said Seeley, formerly a head buyer for specialty store American Rag Cie.
Exhibitors gave the new location mixed reviews. Drew Ramsey, co-owner of Paso Robles, Calif.–based Idylle Clothing, said the new space only attracted the serious buyer. “Random buyers aren’t coming,” Ramsey said. “People are coming here for a purpose.” Ramsey estimated that his company’s orders quadrupled at this show.
Another vendor, Andrew Hanson, said the strength of the new location was that it was closer to the rest of the action at MAGIC. However, he said the trade show’s former site attracted more walk-in traffic because buyers had to pass by to reach many of the convention center’s parking lots.
Exhibitors at Pool reported meeting with retailers Urban Outfitters, The Buckle, Dillard’s and Villains.
Karen Meena, vice president of buying and merchandising at Ron Robinson at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, Calif., placed orders for fashion labels Andrew Christian and Cyber Optix Tie Lab and accessories label Plank. “It still had a feeling that was fresh and young,” she said of the trade show.
Meena said she ordered less this season than in previous seasons. “There will be a lot of newness on the [sales] floor, but it’s going to be a lot narrower. No one feels very good about the economy,” she said. —Andrew Asch
