May 8, 2017

Dallas Total Home & Gift Market delivers expanded marketplace, big events in June

Dallas Market Center has announced exclusive details for its upcoming June Total Home & Gift Market (June 21-27, 2017) including new exhibitors, the grand opening of the Interior Home + Design Center, a 60^th anniversary celebration, educational seminars, and innovative digital experiences. Total Home & Gift Market takes place concurrently with Lightovation—Dallas International Lighting Show (June 21-24), the largest lighting show in North America and the primary buying venue for lighting retailers.

Across the 5 million square foot marketplace new products and new exhibitors will inspire buyers with on-trend and best-selling gifts, home décor, holiday and floral, housewares, gourmet, women’s apparel, fashion accessories, artisan products, and more. More than 50 new and expanding showrooms will debut during the seven-day trade event as well as thousands of new product launches from leading industry names, and new, unique start-ups.

“Buyers from around the world coming to Dallas will experience a record number of new and expanding exhibitors, inspiring big events, trend intelligence, interaction with industry influencers, and an unmatched digital connection to help increase knowledge and make their trip more rewarding,” said Cindy Morris, Dallas Market Center president and CEO. “We are proud to present our loyal buyers and new customers with more reasons to get motivated for the upcoming selling season including the largest expansion of home décor showrooms in more than 40 years plus hundreds of new gift resources, the fastest growing housewares marketplace in the US, the nation’s largest collection of holiday and floral exhibitors, and the biggest marketplace for fashion accessories.”

Among the more-than-50 new and expanding showrooms for June:

In the Trade Mart: Roadrunners debuts dramatically expanded space in TM 1743/1521; Kalalou expands into new space in TM 2050; 180 Degrees/Goetz expands into TM 2010; Source One Marketing is expanding into a second room, TM 1767; Olivia Riegel joins TM 2301 and VIP expands with a move to TM 1644. In the World Trade Center: Import Collection moves into new space, WTC 515; Designs Combined expands in WTC 350; Gold Eagle expands into WTC 420; C. Maddox expands into a second room, WTC 9016.

The Interior Home + Design Center debuts with the grand opening of phase one and the largest expansion of home décor showrooms in Dallas in more than forty years.

The redesigned building will include many of the most respected home décor companies in the U.S. including Phillips Collection; Palecek; Visual Comfort; Ralph Lauren Home; Bliss Studio; Dessau Home; Emissary; in2green; Shadow Catchers; Ambella Home Collection; ZUO; Ratana Casual Furnishings; Austin Allen James; Wish Designs; Ella Home; Spicher & Company; Ashore; Botanical Mix; Robin Baron Design; Cari Davis; United Mills; A Touch of Silk; Cloud 9 Comforts; Zuhaus; Wink Gaines Photography; Lacefield Designs; and Taylors, a leading agency of luxury lighting and home décor.

The official grand opening will take place on Wednesday, June 21 with a private reception hosted by Dallas Market Center and title sponsor ELLE DECOR. Invited guests will enjoy entertainment from DJ Brandon Olds, light bites, a dessert bar, signature cocktail, and champagne. Individual showrooms inside the Interior Home + Design Center will also hold special events creating a progressive party throughout the marketplace. On Thursday, June 22, the Interior Home + Design Center will present a day of education featuring insights and inspiration.

In the Temps, hundreds of new companies will join the marketplace across six locations. The Temps are now easier than ever to navigate thanks to updated and simplified categories and enhanced signage.  Temps on 12 are now merchandised into four main categories making sections even easier for buyers to locate exhibitors. Ninety percent of Dallas buyers report that they visit the temps.

Returning as a temporary showcase will be the International Folk Art Market | Collection, featuring more than twenty global artisans. Countries represented this year include Uzbekistan, Uganda, Ghana, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Italy, Mexico, Peru, and Haiti. Handcrafted products will include home décor, gifts, paper products, clothing, and fashion accessories.

In Gift temps on 12, Freaker USA returns along with PooPourri, Jon Hart Designs, and Roman as well as fashion accessories from Southern Grace, Natural Life, Bed Stu, and America & Beyond. In Home temps on 6, dozens of companies will include Viz Glass, joined by Cloud 9 and K&K Tabletop. On the 13^th floor, Fashion temps will include specially selected apparel manufacturers with products ready to ship to gift stores. In Design in the Trade Mart, Nest Fragrances will be joined by SunnyLife, Swell and Zen Puzzles. American Made products will also be highlighted in a special section on the first floor of the Trade Mart. In Market Hall, the Furniture, Vintage, and Cash & Carry resources will be better than ever. In Furniture, highlights include Black River Antiques, Forever Green Art and George Jones Art; in Vintage highlights include Rodeo Royalty, In the Land of Elsewhere and Oak Hill Emporium; in Artisan Cash & Carry look for Local Lather, Page Gregory Matthews and Honest Cotton; in Cash & Carry check out Atticus Home, Turquoise Haven, and LePerdu.

To share information and heighten digital engagement among attendees, Dallas Market Center recently announced Market 360, the interactive market experience connecting attendees via new and existing media platforms and providing custom content. Market 360 programming will be available via Dallas Market Center’s existing social media channels as well as courtesy of on-site monitors and will include streaming content of market events and exclusive reports including DMC TV, a new live broadcast including a morning show taking place Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 9:00 a.m. in the atrium of the World Trade Center with special guests and segments previewing market events, trends, personalities, and the latest market news; The Podcast Studio, a new market event taking place in partnership with James Swan, well-known host of the Million Dollar Decorating podcast; social media via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Snapchat; The DMC Daily Dose blog; The Dallas Market Center app; and The Market Morning Report buyer emails. The backbone of the Market 360 experience is enhanced technology and wireless access including a 250 percent increase in total bandwidth.

In addition, dynamic special events that will educate, motivate and celebrate are on the calendar every day of the busy show. Highlights include:

• The Dallas Market Center 60^th anniversary celebration. Join the diamond anniversary event with live entertainment, food and drink in the atrium of the World Trade Center on Thursday evening.
• International Folk Art Market | Collection Preview Night will take place on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. and will feature a celebration of global design and special shopping opportunity among the collection of artisans from around the world.

• On Thursday at 2:00 p.m. design expert James Swan will moderate a special panel of celebrity interior design experts. “Three Divas of Design” will include globally recognized style tastemakers Michelle Nussbaumer, Nancy Price, and Robin Baron.
• The 9, 10, & 11 Cocktail Party on Thursday afternoon, June 22, at 2 p.m., will move through floors 9, 10, and 11 in 45 minute increments as attendees enjoy decade-themed music, unique cocktails and treats, and exciting giveaways as they discover top home accents, furniture, and lighting products on each floor.
• The Gourmet Gold Specialty Food Awards celebrates exceptional manufacturers in the gourmet products industry exhibiting at Dallas Market Center. The awards ceremony and cocktail party take place on Friday, June 23 in the World Trade Center atrium at 6:00 p.m.
• The Collection & Housewares Block Party will take place on the Trade Mart 2300 and 2500 aisles on Friday afternoon, June 23, at 4:00 p.m. with music, refreshments and a progressive party from room to room.

Special displays created exclusively for June Total Home & Gift Market will provide both trend intelligence as well as a glimpse into the technology options for the home. Product displays placed throughout the 5 million square foot marketplace, with inspiration by trend reports from Dallas Market Center’s pre-market magazine Source will focus on key gift and home trends for 2017 and beyond.

Available for review throughout market will be a pop-up, interactive exhibit of innovative products and home technology courtesy of Cur8. The exhibit in 1F446 will showcase tomorrow’s design—smart, healthy, socially responsible products brought together by Cur8 for retailers and interior designers. The cur8.com marketplace will debut online this summer as a comprehensive destination for “what’s next” in design.

Dallas Market Center is located in the strongest economic zone in the U.S., and five of the ten fastest growing cities in the U.S. are located within Texas. In addition, travel costs to Dallas are the lowest among all major market destination cities. In addition to two convenient airports and more than 8,000 free parking spaces, an efficient regional rail system offers a Dallas Market Center stop directly behind the marketplace for easy access to downtown and other destinations.