Sourcing Spreads Out
This season, Sourcing at MAGIC moved from the Hilton Convention Center in to the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where exhibitors spread out in the cavernous, brightly lit space.
The move was a good one, according to April Booth, whose Eclat Textile Co. had the prime spot right at the entrance to the show. The Taiwanese company, with operations in Southern California, manufactures high-end knits for the athletic- and casual-sportswear markets.
“Obviously, the space is primo,” said Booth, who said she saw a mix of her existing customers and start-ups.
“A lot of my customers came, and I didn’t even tell them I was coming,” she said.
“Tuesday was fabulous.”
Booth said she was also pleased with the location in the same hall at WWDMAGIC, where many of her customers were exhibiting.
The new location also got approval from David Stone, who was showing his Solid Stone line of knits for the swim and active markets.
“I thought traffic was good and like the three-day set up,” he said.
Stone said he could see an improvement in the optimism and energy among attendees compared with last year.
T.P., Singh, director of Gartex Concept Clothings Ltd., based in Faridabad, India, said the new location made it “easier to breathe and walk around.”
Gartex manufactures, washes and embellishes denim apparel for the men’s, women’s and kids’ markets in Europe, the United States and Australia. The company’s U.S. customers are primarily located on the East Coast, but the company is planning to open a warehouse in Los Angeles, where it will carry stock items for quick-turn deliveries.
One of the consistently busy booths at Sourcing was Hoya International, a sweater manufacturer based in El Monte, Calif. The company’s sophisticated knits for women are manufactured in China, and the company typically exhibits at the biannual Hong Kong Fashion Week trade show.
This was the first time at the show, according to office manager Sandy Pu, who said the company has been manufacturing private-label sweaters for the last 10 years and wanted to see how their own designs would fare at the show. “A lot of people came in, and they love it,” Pu said.
In addition to moving Sourcing at MAGIC, show organizers also split the MAGIC Marketplace into two, sending its menswear exhibitors in MAGIC Menswear, Street, Premium and S.L.A.T.E. to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center to show one floor up from the Project Global Trade Show. The women’s exhibitors of WWDMAGIC remained at the Las Vegas Convention Center, moving from the North Hall to the Central Hall in front of the Pooltradeshow.
For Sourcing exhibitors that cater to the men’s market, the move took a bite out of their business.
“This year, it was terrible,” said Fahim Muhammad Akram, a three-year exhibitor at Sourcing who shows within the Pakistan Pavilion. Akram’s company, Balitex (Pvt.) Ltd., manufacturers T-shirts and hoodies for the men’s, women’s and kids’ markets.
“This has nothing to do with the recession,” he said. “Even in 2009, we got good customers and good business.”
Akram said he saw fewer than 10 customers at the booth this season. “It used to be 70 or 80 people,” he said. “Buyers usually come to visit S.L.A.T.E. and Street, and on the same route, they think ’Why not come to sourcing?’”
Eazaz A. Dar, the commercial counselor for the consulate general of Pakistan in Los Angeles, acknowledged that the split show impacted some exhibitors.
“The divided show also divided the traffic,” he said. “If that show was here at the some time, the buyers can go to different halls and exchange contacts.”—Alison A. Nieder
