MRkt Growth
Menswear vendors took center stage at MRket, held Feb. 16–18 at The Venetian.
Britton Jones, president and chief executive of Business Journals Inc., organizer of MRket as well as Moda Las Vegas and Accessories The Show, said exhibit space at MRket was up 12 percent over last February.
“Through great creativity and floor-plan management, MRket was able to find a way to accommodate the needs of over 250 collections in this February 2010 show,” Jones said. “MRket is making great gains in our overall goal of uniting our juried exhibitors with the better specialty-store community. Our primary mission has always been to draw retailers west of the Mississippi in addition to a very robust international attendance.”
This was the second time that Ben Olia, chief executive of Santorelli, showed at MRket, launched in February 2008. Both times have been positive experiences for his line of contemporary trousers and sportswear.
“It was excellent for us, except for the last day, which was slow in the afternoon,” said Olia, based in Anaheim, Calif. “We had an extremely positive response to our line, which took us by surprise. We didn’t hear much complaining from retailers.”
He noted that buyers were writing orders for mostly Immediates and Spring items.
Bruce Banafsheha, president of Tiglio—a Los Angeles line of suits, dress shirts, pants and jeans—had a good reaction to the company’s collection of slim-line suits, which are made in Italy, and to their sports shirts. “There was a lot of Immediates buying and buying for Fall,” Banafsheha said.
One exhibitor disappointed with the show was Neil Bonin, owner of Carrot & Gibbs, a bow-tie company in Boulder, Colo.“For me, the show was extremely quiet,” he said. But he said he realizes that bow ties are not always on the top of retailers’ must-have items. “They know it is something they can catch whenever they want,” he observed.—Deborah Belgum
