Reenergized Marketplace Welcomes Buyers to the First Atlanta Market of the Year

Furniture World News Desk on 1/8/2020

Buyers shop The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market.

The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market kicks off the tradeshow year for International Market Centers (IMC) with 360+ new, expanded and relocated showrooms and temporaries among its 1,000+ showrooms and 3,300+ temporaries. Highlighted by nearly 50 events, seminars and celebrations, the market is January 14-21, 2020 at AmericasMart® Atlanta.

“The energy and scale of the Winter Atlanta market are extraordinary,” said Bob Maricich, IMC CEO. “Our updates to the buying experience – including repositioned categories, expanded event offerings and new trend sharing – make the market even more important for the region’s top retailers and designers.”

Leasing Gains and an Updated Marketplace

IMC’s Atlanta NEXT initiative, which sees the transformation of AmericasMart through capital investments and strategic remerchandising of resources, has yielded 20 new, expanded, and relocated home décor showrooms in connection with the repositioning and expansion of Open Year Round home décor resources to five contiguous floors (11-15) in Building 1. The updated showrooms – including industry leaders Antique Curiosities, Caracole, Elk Lighting, Forty West Designs, Inc., Go Home, Jeffan International, Leftbank Art and Mainly Baskets – open in January 2020, and will present a more cohesive buying experience at the market and throughout the year as part of the AmericasMart Open Year Round design resources. In total, AmericasMart has 12 floors of home décor product with more than 300 showrooms showing lighting, accent furniture, rugs, wall décor, casual furniture, linens and more.

Excitement for the January 2020 market also expands the gift offerings with 41 new, expanded, and relocated showrooms among its 700 total gift showrooms featuring gift and specialty categories such as Gourmet & Housewares, Tabletop & Gift, The Gardens, Children’s World and Seasonal / Gift resources. The most recent new showrooms include Balsam Hill (artificial Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands), B.I.A. Corporation (stoneware, porcelain dinnerware and bakeware plus home décor), Blueoco (waterproof products, lifestyle bags, coolers, backpacks and more), Doles Orchard (wooden gift boxes, ornaments, and other keepsakes), Jennifer Benson Glass Art (fused glass art and artisan pieces), Kendrick Home (hardwood signs), Picnic at Ascot (elegant picnic products), s.a.l.t. sisters (food products including unrefined sea salt, cane sugars, seasoning rubs, vanilla infusion kits, natural herb blends, dip blends and teas), SuperMoss (handmade natural decorative materials), TDQ Industries (housewares), Victorinox (makers of the original Swiss Army Knife plus cutlery, travel gear and watches) and Yoder’s Outdoor Living (lawn and porch furniture). The latest expansions and relocations include those by 1818 Farms, Azzure, Collins Painting, Deck the Halls Ya’ll, Garden Iron & More, Kay Berry, Lux Fragrance, Nora Fleming, Noelta, Printed Canvas, R Squared, Tizo Designs, Urban Trends and WOLF.

Specialization and Curation in the Temporaries

The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market adds 300 new exhibitors to its 3,300 temporary gift and home exhibitors, presented January 15-19, 2020 in 32 distinct product neighborhoods across the three-building campus. Of note in January is growth in four specialty categories: On Trend Gifts doubles to 90 booths; Gourmet Foods features an expanded Georgia Grown Pavilion of more than 30 booths; Boutique grows to nearly 140 luxury jewelry, accessories and clothing vendors; Children’s World and Modern Child add 13 new-to-Atlanta juvenile brands. Additionally, stationery and paper resources also have grown by 25 percent year-over-year to nearly 100 brands showing in 10 neighborhoods.

Other updates in the temporary exhibits include a new look and feel for the Seasonal / Gift collection, and an expanded and redesigned New Exhibitor vignette of best sellers, new introductions and signature items from exhibitors making their Atlanta market debut in January 2020.

New Product Spotlight

IMC’s new Market Snapshot program debuts in Atlanta in January. The program showcases exciting, new, innovative and trendsetting products from the Atlanta and Las Vegas Market collections on social media, in buyer communications and on the markets’ websites. In the weeks leading up to market, a variety of cross-category products have been selected as finalists for the “People’s Choice” awards and showcased at AmericasMart.com/MarketSnapshot.

Online voting for the People’s Choice awards is open now on the webpage, and winners will be announced at the market.

Expanded Programming

The Winter 2020 market features nearly 50 seminars, demonstrations, events and celebrations, highlighted by the first-ever staging of Gift for Life’s 28th Annual Party for Life fundraiser in Atlanta. The industry celebration takes place on Wednesday, January 15 at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History with designer Thom Filicia serving as Honorary Event Chairman and recognition of Anne McGilvray, who will be presented with the Chuck Yancy Lifetime Achievement Award. (Note: Tickets and sponsorship information in available at GiftForLife.com/Participate.)

The Winter 2020 class of Shop the Show influencers showcases five tastemakers – Tiffani Thiessen, Katie Stauffer of the Stauffer Family, Brian Patrick Flynn, Paloma Contreras and Liz Marie Galvan – who will shop the Market in search of the most coveted products and latest trends. More information about the influencers including their inspiration, trend predictions and at-market events is available online at AmericasMart.com/ShopTheShow.

Retailer and designer education is presented in 18 sessions with topics including influencer and social media marketing, pricing strategy, client management, new business opportunities, trend forecasting and more. The Demonstration Kitchen presents nine interactive culinary demonstrations from celebrity chefs and influencers Thiessen, Nancy Fuller and Kevin Gillespie plus Atlanta-based chefs and mixologists.

Buyer celebrations are also a highlight of the Market. Sherwin-William’s 2020 Color of the Year – NAVAL SW 6244 – is celebrated at the Roaring Navy party when attendees are invited to come dressed in their best Naval-colored attire as they raise and glass and usher in the new year on the Commercial Design floor. The January Market Kick Off Party in the Building 3 atrium features drinks, food and entertainment.

(A complete listing of programming with descriptions, dates, times and locations is available online at AmericasMart.com/Events).

Buying Groups, Multipliers and Key Accounts

IMC’s Buyer Services team has focused on high-impact buyer acquisition initiatives in the lead up to the market. Some 20 buying groups representing 1,500 buyers – including three new groups, The Good Toy Group, HTI Buying Group and ZAG (Zoo, Aquarium & Garden Buying Group) – are set to attend.  Key accounts confirmed for the market include Anthropologie, Cato Corp, Dillards, HomeGoods, HSN, Nordstrom, Overstock, SteinMart, Target, Tuesday Morning, TJX, Uncommon Goods, Walmart, Wayfair and more. The team will also support first-time attendees via two new buyer seminars.

New and returning buyer preregistration is available now at AmericasMart.com/registration allowing buyers to obtain “FastBadges” to expedite the onsite registration experience plus information about the market, special events, new products and more. The AmericasMart App allows attendees to navigate the campus with turn-by-turn directions; save must-see exhibitors, events and specials; set up a budget for market and track spending; take notes; get real-time information about market happenings; learn about upcoming events and exciting news through social alerts; and locate on-site amenities.

For the Winter 2020 staging of The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, showrooms are open Tuesday, January 14 – Tuesday, January 21, 2020 from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. (select showrooms are open until 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 16 and Friday, January 17) and temporaries are open Wednesday, January 15 – Saturday, January 18, 2020, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday, January 19, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

About The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market: The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market is a leading wholesale marketplace housing the nation’s largest gift product mix complemented by a broad selection of home décor, featuring more than 8,000 brands across all categories. Held semi-annually at AmericasMart Atlanta, the Market attracts retailers and designers from every U.S. state and more than 60 countries. For more information, visit, AmericasMart.com.

About International Market Centers: International Market Centers (IMC) is the world’s largest operator of premier showroom space for furniture, gift, home décor, rug, and apparel industries. International Market Centers owns and operates nearly 20 million square feet of world-class exhibition space in High Point, N.C., Las Vegas and Atlanta. IMC’s mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furniture, gift, home décor, rug, and apparel industries. For more information, visit IMCenters.com.