This is the No. 1 question I’ve received at market this week. And though I can’t answer definitively, I can speculate based on the various people I’ve spoken with.
I believe September will once again become the “primary” show. However, it’s important to note that if this is the case, the market will still cater to specialty retailers.
Most specialty players don’t come to July because it’s smack in the middle of their on-season. They don’t have the staff to leave and they can’t close the store, so September works for them.
But if you need to buy containers, July is the month to do it. These retailers have to buy before September or they won’t be able to get the product they need.
This, to me, presents an obvious opportunity to segment the market and make it valuable for all who are involved.
Take the idea of Design Days that was tried last September and move that to January. It’s a great time for designers to shop and it’s way too early for most retailers.
The July market should cater to full-line retailers and larger specialty dealers who are able to leave their stores for a few days. Again, it’s the perfect time for them to buy because 1) they beat the traffic caused by specialty retailers in September and 2) they need containers.
The September market would work well for specialty retailers, as that’s when most of these players are looking to pull the trigger on orders.
Right now, there’s confusion about which market is best to attend, and that question is going to be answered in the next few years when buyers get back in a groove and the breadth of the market starts to take shape.
Right now, it seems like retailers are picking one market and sticking with that plan. Meanwhile, many exhibitors are required to be open at every market, so why not bring some value to those brands by driving a specific customer in?
There’s no easy fix for a situation like this, and to be fair it is only the second year of the market in Atlanta. We’re still figuring things out, and it will be interesting to see how September plays out and how things change going into 2025.
