California Apparel News

New ownership usually means change for any company. Following the recent announcement that U.K. company UBM PLC will acquire Advanstar for $972 million, many in the industry wondered what changes were in store for the trade show giant, whose shows include MAGIC, Project and Coterie.

Joe Loggia, Advanstar’s chief executive officer, will continue running Advanstar, according to a company statement, but California Apparel News talked to a few retailers and manufacturers on their suggestions for MAGIC and how they’d like the influential trade show to change.

Fraser Ross

Founder, Kitson, Los Angeles

[MAGIC is] so worried about pleasing vendors at the show that they forget about the retailers. It’s not accommodating to retailers anymore. [With the recent sale,] maybe a European outlook could freshen the show. A good thing about European shows is the amenities. The European shows have coffee stands at the middle of the show. You don’t have to walk back all the way to a food court and wait three hours.

Also, the shows are way too big. These trade shows have lost their luster. There is not enough newness. There is no way that you can cover all of those Las Vegas trade shows.There’s too many shows in a big area. They charge a lot of money for vendors, so start-ups can’t go there.

Gila Leibovitch

Co-owner, Vault, Laguna Beach, Calif.

I think it is great news! I was not happy with MAGIC and how it was run—it felt like a big mish-mash.

Hopefully, this new U.K. company, with all its new resources, will be able to make it better. The first thing I would like to see change is to have the shows all under one roof—men’s, women’s, kids’, shoes, etc.

If there is a physical way to do this, then U.S. buyers can spend more time buying and less time traveling from one trade show to the other. Secondly, if would be nice if lunch was provided. Not asking for much—we can handle our own breakfast and dinner.

But to stop our buying, and to start looking for a decent place to eat, shouldn’t have to happen. Not only are the lunch options not good, but they are expensive and the lines are long. Lucky for some buyers, brands such as AG Jeans set up a Nobu station at every trade show, which totally helps. For example, the MRket show offers amazing lunches, Kidshow at Bally’s offers a lunch, and the old ENK shows used to offer lunches, which was helpful and a great time saver. Coffee stations would also be helpful. Transportation to and from the different trade shows is always a plus, but not all hotels offer a shuttle to the conventions. It would be nice to see various options on how to get back and forth to the hotels, provided by the trade show.

Don Zuidema

Co-founder of LASC, West Hollywood, Calif.

With the consolidation and now purchase of several of the major shows, I would hope that UBM PLC would do their best to give each show its own personality and to revitalize the shows. There has become a sameness among the shows, and in an industry based on fresh ideas it is time to hold the directors of these shows to the same high standard we as retailers are held to by our customers.

They should also strive to seek out new brands, new technologies and new platforms for the design, layout and promotion of the shows.

Karen Meena

Vice president of merchandising, Ron Robinson, Los Angeles

Put all of the shows together in one venue. It is time-consuming to go from one venue to the other. Please just simplify the process. Add an extra day. With all the new shows, it is very challenging for a buyer to see everything and get some orders placed. It would be helpful to have more time. Do not schedule the August dates the same time as the NY Now show. For the past three years these shows have been scheduled at the same time. It cuts my time at MAGIC to only two days. MAGIC used to be scheduled closer to the end of August. Bring some of the customer service back to the U.S. circuit of trade shows. Bring better and more accessible food/beverages and convenient and accessible transportation.

Organize the show floor for easy shopping. Put all the like brands and categories together in clearly marked areas to make it easy on the buyers to find what they are looking for.

Bryan Kang

President, Rhapsody Clothing, Los Angeles

Whenever [trade show producers] organize a shop floor, they say that they give out locations to vendors ranking their seniority. But it is very subjective. Vendors should be able to request the location that they want. Location is very important; traffic is very important. Usually, a new exhibitor or brand is at the back. Buyers should have more chances to see new brands. The MAGIC marketing team should put more focus on international marketing. We have to promote Los Angeles and California designs. I wish they would release or sell the list of buyers’ email addresses to exhibitors.

Freddie Rojas

Owner, Rojas, Los Angeles

They need to move it back to Los Angeles. All of the showrooms are here, all the brands are here. There is no fashion in Las Vegas. It would help out Los Angeles tremendously if there was a major trade show here. Maybe at the Convention Center. It would bring the stores here. It would bring other brands here. Also, the merchandising needs to be curated better at MAGIC. If they would merchandise the brands that sell together at the same boutiques, it would help the buyers find comparable brands.