Las Vegas Market Strengthens Artisan Presentation

Furniture World News Desk on 11/20/2016

Las Vegas Market announced recently that the escalating “maker movement” is fueling growth in artisan-crafted gift and home décor products to be featured at the Winter 2017 Las Vegas Market, January 22- 26, 2017. Beyond exhibits, Las Vegas Market is also developing a number of maker-focused educational offerings and special events to complement the handcrafted products in both permanent showrooms and temporary exhibition space.

“The burgeoning ‘Maker Movement’ is alive and well at Las Vegas Market,” said Dorothy Belshaw, president of Gift & Home Décor, International Market Centers. “We will have a record number of artisans and makers at the Winter 2017 Market across both permanent showrooms and temporary exhibits. Our newly-expanded HANDMADE category at The Pavilions at Las Vegas Market is expected to be completely sold-out in January, and DISCOVERIES, The Antique Vintage Marketplace has doubled in size in just one year. In addition to resource growth, we are supporting the artisan category with a variety of exhibits, special events and dedicated educational programming, all designed to appeal to the unique and inventive maker community.”

Two new and expanding showrooms dedicated to handcrafted merchandise will be featured on C11 in January, and a special C11 escalator lobby display will highlight key handmade offerings. Seattle-based multi-line sales agency Palladium Inc. is opening a new 916-square-foot showroom featuring 17 jewelry and accessories designers, including: Alicia Van Fleteren, Ayala Bar, Calliope, J & I jewelry, Michael Vincent Michaud and Zsiska. As recently announced, the American Made Collective also is nearly doubling its showroom on C11 to feature 18 American-made artists in 3,636-square feet. Newcomers to the showroom include Carole's Candles, Cynthia Webb Design, Dock 6 Pottery, Designer Stone Inc., Heart the Moment, Holy Crap! Erin Smith Art, Jacob's Musical Chimes, Juniper Tree Soaps, Spooner Creek & Macone Clay, Prairie Dance Metal Art, Printed Canvas, Michal Golan Jewelry, Michael Michaud Designs, Samantha Grace, Sabbath-Day Woods, Sea Stones, Sue Rosengard Jewelry Design, Treestump Wood Craft and WATCHCRAFT.

A wealth of handcrafted gifts and home décor products also will be featured in temporary exhibition space in The Pavilions At Las Vegas Market for Winter Market, including the return of the Artisanal LA (ALA) pop-up showcase highlighting the best handcrafted, handmade, unique artisan and maker products available from 30 Los Angeles-based craftspeople. Returning ALA makers showing in Pavilion 1 include: Baltic and Pine, Chez Gagne, District Los Angeles, Honeybelle, Post Studio, Smyrna Collection and The Yes Bar.

The expanded HANDMADE category within Pavilion 1 is expected to be sold out for Winter Market with an exciting assemblage of new and returning temporary exhibitors. Newcomers include Ontario-based Far + Wide Collective, a multi-line agency partnering with some of the most talented artisans producing fair trade clothing, décor and jewelry in post-conflict and emerging countries. Other new resources and products include: Alef Bet by Paula/Paula's Jewels, jewelry; Attic Journals, journals and home accents; Ercolano, decorative boxes and games; Graymarket Design, linens and accessories; KBD Studio,leather and metal jewelry and accessories; Lina's Shop, jewelry; M Street Artwork, wood and rope home accents; Malia Designs, handbags and accessories; Pitkin Stearns International, Inc., sand artworks and home accents; Selen, metal jewelry and accents; and Whitney Howard Designs, jewelry and accessories. In addition to these first-time exhibitors, HANDMADE also welcomes back several artisans returning after a hiatus: 12 Small Things, Dunitz & Company, Luna by Karina Potestio, Mugwump, Santore Company, Southwest Inspirations, The Porcelain Garden, Two Hermanas and Vilmain.

In Pavilion 2, DISCOVERIES, The Antique Vintage Marketplace also showcases more than 100 suppliers of repurposed, refurbished and vintage items – all available for immediate delivery. The winter 2017 Market will showcase more than 5,000 square feet of first-time participants, including Delamora Designs, Brayden & Brooks, Industrial-Chic Loft, Kilim Home, Nomadic Trading, Rough & Tumble Vintage; and returning favorites including Blue Ocean Traders, Broke Jewels, Golden Oldies, Junk Girls, Lisa Souers Designs, My Mothers Buttons, Uber Chic and Vintage- Addiction.

Las Vegas Market is supporting the artisanal community with a varied selection of educational programming and special events, including a new partnership with CRAFT (Craft Retailers & Artists for Tomorrow), a nonprofit trade organization that champions the business of handmade American crafts. As part of this new alliance, CRAFT is developing a series of special programming for retailers and exhibitors during Winter Market, including a “Meet the Makers” segment and Las Vegas Market has become a major sponsor of American Craft Week, an annual celebration of made-in-the-USA crafts held annually each October.

Other special events focusing on the artisanal community at Winter Market include the sixth edition of the prestigious Global Goodness Awards, recognizing furniture, gift and home décor companies for environmentally-friendly, sustainable and socially responsible business practices. Entries will be accepted through January 13, 2017, and winners will be announced at the Winter Market.

Las Vegas Market also will honor West Elm LOCAL with the inaugural “Design Influencer of the Year” Award in connection with the 2017 Housewares Design Awards, which will be presented by HomeWorld Business and hosted by the Las Vegas Market at the Winter Market. The Design Influencer of the Year Award recognizes an individual or organization for exceptional design or design influence, and West Elm is being honored for its groundbreaking LOCAL program, which features 500+ makers handcrafting more than 4,500 products that are offered in some 85 stores nationwide.

Las Vegas Market is the leading furniture, home decor and gift marketplace in the western U.S., presenting 3,700+ gift, home décor and furniture resources in an unrivaled market destination. Las Vegas Market features thousands of gift, furniture and home décor lines, allowing for cross-category commerce among these industries. The Winter 2017 Las Vegas Market runs January 22-26, 2017. For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com.

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More about Las Vegas Market and International Market Centers, L.P.: Las Vegas Market is the most comprehensive furniture, home décor and gift market in the United States, presenting a unique cross-section of 3,700+ resources in an unrivaled market destination. With two markets each year, retailers and designers can shop a broad assortment of product from thousands of manufacturers of furniture, mattress, lighting, decorative accessories, floor coverings, home textiles, tabletop, general gift and more — delivering the most complete, cross-category wholesale tradeshow for the furniture, home décor and gift industries in the United States.

For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com.

Las Vegas Market is produced by International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC), the world’s largest operator of premier showroom space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. International Market Centers owns and operates 12.1 million square feet of world-class exhibition space in High Point, N.C. and Las Vegas. IMC’s mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. For more information on IMC, visit http://imcenters.com/.