Business Journals Steps Up Partnerships With Co-Location Plans With ENK for April Shows
Business Journals Inc. —the New York–based organizer of the Moda, Accessories The Show and Fame trade shows—announced plans to shift its May show dates and co-locate with ENK’s Intermezzo and Accessorie Circuit at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
The shows will be held April 27–29, a move from BJI’s traditional Fall/Winter schedule of the first week of May. Although the date change was initially prompted by a scheduling conflict with the Javits Center, when BJI polled its attendees, retailers told the trade-show organizer they preferred the earlier dates, which allow them to be in their stores in the lead-up to Mother’s Day.
“Mother’s Day is second only to the Christmas holiday season in terms of sales in the women’s market,” said Britton Jones, president and chief executive officer of BJI. “It’s usually the owner who is coming to our shows and doing the buying. They really like to be [in their store] with their customers [during holidays]. It probably generates more sales because they’re on the floor working with customers, many of whom they know. So it turned out to be a win-win situation.”
The decision to co-locate with ENK’s show was similarly prompted by retailer input. BJI’s Moda, ATS and Fame shows already coincide with ENK’s Intermezzo and Accessories Circuit shows in February, September and August in New York. In addition to the new April dates, BJI and ENK will coordinate dates for their August Holiday/Resort shows.
“We have come to realize over the years of running in the same markets at the same time that having more cohesive market weeks benefits everybody,” Jones said. “Our No. 1 goal is how can we create a more productive, a more compelling, a more enjoyable experience for the retailers. The retailers are not bashful about telling us what they think. They really like it when they can shop the shows without having to get on a bus to go five blocks away or try to get a cab or get around the city either in the wintertime, when it’s often cold, or the summertime, when it’s really hot. The quality of their life improves a great deal. It was really the same thing we were hearing in Las Vegas that led to the creation of Modern Assembly.”
In Las Vegas, BJI’s MRket, Stitch and ATS shows are part of the Modern Assembly partnership with theLiberty, Capsule and Agenda trade shows at the Sands Expo & Convention Center and The Venetian.
BJI recently struck a third partnership with trade-show organizers Messe Frankfurt and Olah Inc. to form NYC Textile Week in New York featuring BJI’s MRket show, Messe Frankfurt’s Texworld USA textile and sourcing trade show and Olah Inc.’s Kingpins denim supply-chain trade show. The event is designed to be a “destination for textile and sourcing professionals in the global fashion, home and related industries.” The event will soft launch during the January run of the three trade shows but will hold the official launch in July.
