The recent Off Price Specialist Show (Aug. 23-26, Sands Expo & Convention Center, Las Vegas) saw 489 vendors and an increased buyer attendence of almost 20%.
“The stars lined up perfectly. Our exhibitors were ready and the order-writing was fantastic from the start,” said Julie Ichiba, executive show director. “Exhibitors in just about every category had a very successful show.”
“Customers know how important the first day (of Off Price) is. Even the lower-volume customers made appointments on the first day so they wouldnt lose out,” reported Kay McQuade, owner of White Mountain Dry Goods Inc. from Dover, New Hampshire.
The second day of the show, Sunday, Aug. 24th, lasted over an hour longer than scheduled as buyers continued to wander the floors.
“It was non-stop, and I got a big order from a major retailer at 4:00 pm on the second day,” said Andy Shamsi of Cosmo Trading.
“Christmas comes only twice a year, and were in the midst of it,” said Ira Eisenberg, president of Wise Buys, Inc. “We had an awesome show!”
The Atlanta-based mens apparel jobber greeted “a lot of new buyers” at their booth who came to explore the Off Price Show for “traffic builders” to “create more buzz in their stores.” Several of the shows exhibitors had the same positive experience with both new and regular customers.
“People were here to buy,” said Harry Levinson of Off-Price Trading out of Closter, New Jersey. “We did a lot of good business with existing customers, and opened up quite a few new accounts, including a new chain and exporters from outside the country.”
LA-based Puzzles Enterprises reported new business activity from a lot of independent retailers who found OffPriceShow.com and OffPriceShowrooms.com through the search engines. This was complemented with a lot of repeat and regular business and solid international traffic.
Vendors in the non-apparel categories of Off Price also had a successful show as well. Mannequin supplier Display Importer.com experienced more traffic and lots of new business in only their third show. Jeff Ackerman of Capico Accessories met a lot of buyers looking for handbags, wallets and accessories. “Its been a very good accessories show.” And gift/lifestyle/bed & bath vendor Burwell Industries developed many large accounts with mid to high range retailers, including a European company who picked up 45,000 units each of Burwells entire product line.
