Center’s first show a success

Kevin Rademacher

Friday, July 29, 2005 | 11:07 a.m.

After a week of everything from ribbon cuttings and champagne to sofas and dining room tables, the first Las Vegas Furniture Market is wrapping up.

In its wake is a long list of mostly positive reviews.

"I think everybody totally enjoyed the show," said Sharon Bradley, executive director of the Western Home Furnishings Association. "The retailers were thrilled with what they have seen and with the ease of working with this location."

As of Thursday, World Market Center organizers said more than 60,000 people had registered for the show, well ahead of the 40,000 originally expected. The furniture market was the debut of the World Market Center's first, 1.3 million-square-foot building. The market also included 350,000-square-feet of temporary space in the parking lot and additional space at the Las Vegas Convention Center

Over the next seven years, seven additional buildings are planned for the World Market Center site, bringing the total number of square feet to 12 million. The center will hold two shows a year for furniture and accessory retailers and interior designers to buy from manufacturers and wholesalers.

The next show is scheduled for Jan. 30-Feb. 3.

Babs Blair, director of leasing for the World Market Center, said the strong showing this week helped generate new lease agreements for future markets.

"Leasing is going very well this week," she said. "There are so many new companies coming to Las Vegas to check out the building and the market ... They are now ready to sign."

Blair said the second building, which is now under construction, is 60 percent leased. Leasing for the third building will begin soon, and the World Market also expects a high retention rate for temporary exhibitors.

The success of the market did not go unnoticed by nearby businesses.

Michael Morolla, managing member of Sandhurst Development LLC, is leading an effort to build a condominium tower just blocks from the World Market Center. He said the crowds this week are an example of the downtown area's potential.

"It's actually quite exciting," he said. "I think for years when you looked at that location, it was quite hard to believe that anything could take place there. Now, it's hard to believe there was land available."

Morolla also said that the market create sales opportunities for attendees and exhibitors looking for corporate housing.

The market also generated traffic at the nearby Las Vegas Premium Outlets mall, but mall executives said the impact would be difficult to quantify.

"It is too early to tell, but we are certainly happy to have new neighbors, and we feel their opening is one more example of how the area is growing," said Alexandra Goranson, marketing manager for Las Vegas Premium Outlets.

Downtown casinos also saw higher that usual traffic for a summer week.

"You can definitely feel their presence downtown," said Sylke Finnegan, spokeswoman for the Golden Nugget, pointing to the benefit of the World Market Center's close proximity to Fremont Street. "We definitely have a captured audience down here."

She added that the new concept behind the furniture industry event also serves to expose downtown Las Vegas and the valley as whole to an industry and its professionals who might otherwise have little reason to come.

"It stood out definitely because it was a major event mid-summer, but it also stood out because it's a new industry," Finnegan said. "It's a whole new demographic that might not come to Las Vegas for a convention."

Strip operators also saw market traffic.

"We are seeing a positive impact at all of our Strip properties," said David Strow, spokesman for Harrah's Entertainment Inc. "From our perspective we are very pleased ... Typically this is a slow period in the convention calendar."

Strow said Harrah's has booked group business with the World Market Center for 2006 and 2007.