Dec 7, 2020

Dallas Market Center unveils headline events for its January event

Dallas Market Center, a wholesale trade center uniting buyers and sellers from around the world, announced its headlining event lineup celebrating the January launch of its marketplace for Western and English brands.

WESA’s International Western/English Apparel & Equipment Market

From Jan. 14-17, WESA’s International Western/English Apparel & Equipment Market will take place together with the AETA International Trade Show. More than 1,000 brands for the western and equestrian lifestyle will be presented in temporary exhibits and permanent showrooms, including apparel and accessories, footwear, hats, and tack alongside complementary categories of gift and home décor.

Celebrity guests, live music, and style spotting will add excitement to the trade events. In addition, hospitality and business education including virtual seminars, happy hours, food trucks, giveaways, and more will take place—all socially distanced. Highlights include:

• Multiple performances by The Jake Maurer Band, a Nashville favorite
• A daily Cowboy Boot and Buckle Parlor featuring the best in boot and buckle shines
• Kirbe Schnoor from the original RanchHer series on The Cowboy Channel offering live reports on the latest Western and English apparel and accessories trends
• Trend reports from Dallas Market Center Style Eye Shaley Ham—a social media Western fashion and lifestyle influencer
• A presentation and dedication of an original artwork to Dallas Market Center by Buck Taylor from the hit TV series Gunsmoke
• Daily new buyer orientations to help guide the nearly 4,000 first-time buyers to Dallas Market Center

Dallas Market Center announced in August of 2018 that the WESA shows would relocate to Dallas beginning in 2021 and in May of 2020 announced the acquisition of AETA shows. To prepare for these global events, a large-scale construction project was undertaken, the final stage of which is complete: an entire floor of permanent showrooms joined by 250,000 square feet of updated space for temporary exhibits.

“We are rolling out the red carpet by creating a lineup of exciting activities to celebrate the grand opening of the world’s largest marketplace for the Western and English lifestyle,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “Retailers will feel inspired and confident for business in 2021 by experiencing the events, networking, and product discovery in Dallas.”

When buyers arrive, the WESA International Western/English Apparel & Equipment Market will feature hundreds of brands including temporary exhibits on the 11th floor of the World Trade Center. The AETA International Trade Show will feature leading brands together on the 13th floor. The permanent marketplace of Western and English showrooms is located on the 14th floor of the World Trade Center building and includes more than 70 new showrooms from leading brands such as Ariat, Justin Brands, Dan Post, Hooey, Hatco/Resistol, Wrangler, Scully, Panhandle, Partrade, Equibrand, Rios of Mercedes, M&F, Lucchese, Milano Hat Company, Cripple Creek, and Roper/Stetson.

Adjacent permanent showrooms for women’s, men’s, and children’s apparel, accessories, and footwear plus hundreds of showrooms of gift and home décor, holiday and gourmet will present buyers with a complete lifestyle assortment of goods under one roof for unmatched efficiency and inspiration.

Safety Protocols

Supporting the comfort, health and safety of all attendees, the market center will continue measures that include mandatory face covering and temperature screening for every person entering the marketplace every day. Other efforts include low contact entry via online pre-registration as well as enhanced cleaning with hospital grade products, hundreds of hand sanitizing stations, and signage for social distancing. Along with these new steps, there are safety measures that are part of the natural design of the marketplace: open parking, large entryways, quick registration in multiple areas, wide hallways, multiple escalators to every floor, and showrooms with controlled access to allow for the appropriate distance between customers.

Other January Markets

During the month of January, Dallas Market Center hosts additional trade events including Apparel & Accessories Market from Jan. 12-15 and KidsWorld from Jan. 12-15. The week prior, Total Home & Gift Market takes place Jan. 6-12 with Temps Jan. 6-9; and Lightovation takes place Jan. 7-10.

Pre-registration is now open. For WESA, please visit https://wesatradeshow.com/ and for AETA or other events please visit http://dallasmarketcenter.com/.