TRADE SHOW
Offprice: Vendor Space Sold Out
Vendor space for the Offprice show was sold out for the Feb. 16–19 show, held on the lower level of the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
More than 500 vendors exhibited at the show, devoted to off-price clothes, which are typically priced 20 percent to 70 percent below wholesale. There were more than 11,000 attendees, including more than 8,000 buyers, walking the show, said David Lapidos, executive vice president of Offprice.
“The show was very good, and with every show we seem to be getting better,” Lapidos said. At last week’s show, the cash-and-carry section doubled in size, and there were more footwear vendors.
Retail traffic for the first day of the show was very busy, said Tony Peters, vice president of sales for off-price retailer and wholesaler Bermo Inc. “We had a great first day,” he said. “Second and third days, things really slowed down.”
Peters blamed raging storms across the eastern United States for slow traffic on the second and third days of the show. Travel was hard during the inclement weather, and a lot of retailers had a tough time finding flights to the show.
Also, National Stores, a parent company of Fallas off-price stores, last month acquired Conway,which owns the chain of CW Price stores, so there were fewer retailers to sell to, Peters said.
Offprice’s Todd Fabos said buyer traffic remained high at the show overall. “We had very strong numbers day one (more than 3,300 retailers) and day two (more than 2,700 retailers) before we saw our anticipated dip in daily attendance on day three when MAGIC [opened],” he said.
Major off-price retailers visiting the shows included Burlington Coat Factory, Bealls and Gabriel Brothers.
