TRADE SHOWS
Big Growth at Materials Shows
Two big trade shows that display raw materials and components for footwear, fashion, high-tech and the automobile industries have grown by 25 percent over the last year.
The NE Materials Show, held near Boston, and the NW Materials Show, held in Portland, Ore., have seen the number of exhibitors grow by 25 percent this year, said Hisham Muhareb, whose American Events Inc. organizes the two shows.
A third show, the SoCal Materials Show in Los Angeles, has seen exhibitor numbers remain almost flat, Muhareb said.
The Portland show, which is the original show, started more than 20 years ago and now has some 235 suppliers. The next NW Materials Show is being held March 1 and 2 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The NE Materials Show is being held March 8–9 at the Doubletree Hotel in Danvers, Mass.
The first SoCal Materials Show took place in January 2015 on the top floor of the California Market Center with 87 exhibitors. But shoe manufacturers—many who have their offices on the Westside of town—said they preferred a show located closer to Los Angeles International Airport.
So in July 2015, the expo moved to the LAX Marriott. The last version of the SoCal Materials Show was held in January with 54 vendors.
