Nov 21, 2016

L.A. Mart gets off to dynamic start in 2017

The L.A. Mart, the West Coast’s largest resource for gift, home, lifestyle, fashion accessories, baby/children, furniture and design products, is ready to greet its national and international retailer audience with brand-new order-writing temporary exhibitors offering an extensive variety of highly marketable merchandise, new and newly expanded showrooms, and numerous amenities, all to be found at the Winter 2017 Gift & Home Market. The major West Coast market will be held on its new and easy-to-shop date schedule Wednesday through Monday, Feb. 15-20.

“The Winter 2017 Gift & Home Market promises to be especially exciting this year thanks to several major changes,” stated Frank Joens, senior vice president, general manager, L.A. Mart. “Thanks to our recent partnership with Urban Exhibitions (owner/managers of the LAMKT Show held concurrently at the Los Angeles Convention Center), all of the former South Hall order-writing temporary exhibitors will be moved into the LA Mart’s state-of- the-art exhibition space located on the 2nd Floor. In addition, adding a Kids Collective on the 3rd Floor broadens our scope of offerings like never before. These additions make it so much easier for our valued retailers to shop and discover fresh resources, as all order-writing temporaries and multiple new Kid’s resources will be located all in the LA Mart location. This helps us further our quest to be a true one-stop resource for our retailers.”

Joens continued: “The other major change to take place for the Winter 2017 Market is a brand new date pattern for the show, moving only two weeks later to the second week of February 2017, instead of our traditional date pattern of the last week of January. Our 2017 Winter Market dates — Feb. 15-20, 2017, with the California Marketplace Temps at the LA Mart scheduled for Friday through Sunday, Feb. 17-19 — will not overlap any of the other national or regional markets, allowing buyers, manufacturers, and the media the luxury of shopping the Los Angeles Market without the frantic time demands of the crowded January show schedule. This change was enacted as a result of requests from numerous retailers and manufacturers and because we continue to be committed to making our Market experience highly productive as well as exciting and fun.”

Among the many amenities and events planned for the upcoming Winter 2017 market:

New and newly expanded showrooms. Making their debut at the Winter 2017 Gift & Home Market, are an impressive number of brand new showrooms, including Haptor-Barrett, Bobby Berk Home, Tesoros Trading Company, Paralana Inc., Art Floral Trading, Legend of Asia, Patagonia, Napin, Screen Gems, Le Coterie, Melrose International, Bozlati International, and Madera Home – showrooms that together represent over 45,000 square feet of new exhibit space.

Only in L.A. resources. Only in the L.A. Mart can buyers see and shop such prestigious lines as Two’s Company, Katherine Collection, Bal Blabla, Bobby Berk, Reed & Barton, Godinger, Holiday Souvenirs, Out of Asia, One Hundred 80 Degrees, Joy to the World, Squire Boone Village and Island Heritage — as well as nationally known sales organizations such as Bey-Berk International, Lollia/TokyoMilk, HABA USA, Kurt Adler, Anne McGilvray, Karen Alweil Studio, Kiss That Frog, and Archipelago, and many more showcasing some of the industry’s leading lines.

Kids Collective. Welcoming a variety of major showrooms from the California Market Center, a neighboring Los Angeles fashion building, the L.A. Mart is proud to announce the first “Kids Collective.” This product collection will include dozens of lines of baby and children’s merchandise representing infants to ‘tweens and all ages in-between. Children’s apparel, accessories and gifts will all be included on the 3rd floor, with over 6,000 square feet of brand new kid’s merchandise never before shown at the LA Mart. “Baby and kid’s products are a giant and ever-growing category and most stores are carrying an expanded selection of merchandise that encompasses this very important product group. These products represent a discovery zone of highly marketable, money-making merchandise for buyers shopping at the LA Mart Winter Gift & Home Market,” said Joens.

Buyer amenities & parties. In order to keep its buyers entertained, well-fed, and rested, the L.A. Mart will make available a variety of amenities, including:

Free daily parking

Comfortable buyer’s lounge (#420) with complimentary refreshments, and a full business center complete with WiFi Fax, phone and copying services

Designer’s Lounge (#1218) with a complimentary coffee bar

Two restaurants—Market Café in the L.A. Mart lobby and the Lifestyle Café (#909) offering a wide selection of freshly made salads, sandwiches and entrees

Daily gourmet food trucks offering al fresco dining in the L.A. Mart’s outdoor plaza

Happy Hour held on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 16-17 with complimentary wine bars available in the afternoons

Late night shopping until 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17

Winter Blast Party with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, music and dancing, starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 18, in the L.A. Mart’s 2^nd floor Cloud Room

Handy L.A. Mart tote bags offered at registration

Easy registration and inter-venue transportation. As part of its partnership with LAMKT (formerly the California Gift Show), one badge will gain entry to both shows. In addition to buyer convenience, frequent shuttles will run between the L.A. Mart and the Los Angeles Convention Center (where the LAMKT’s ever-popular “Immediate Delivery” jewelry and fashion accessories products and its extensive World Style collections will continue to be shown in the LACC’s Kentia Hall), daily during the market. Convenient shuttle services to local hotels will also be provided free of charge throughout the show for out-of-town attendees.