American Beauty Gets European Makeover
By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 8/16/2004
When the Beauty & Barber Supply Institute's annual tradeshow started to slip, the group called in European reinforcements. And it may have some good news for politicians in Washington, D.C.: The global alliance works.
BBSI used to produce its annual convention in Las Vegas. At its last staging in 2002, the Tradeshow Week 200 event drew 4,700 buyer attendees to visit 533 exhibitors covering 157,767 net square feet of the Las Vegas Convention Center — down from a peak of 4,956 buyers, 638 exhibitors and 230,974 net sq. ft. in 1999.
Meanwhile, coinciding with BBSI's decline, an East Coast counterpart was on the rise. IBS New York, managed by Advanstar Communications and sponsored by American Salon Magazine, entered the TSW 200 in 2002, drawing 45,000 attendees and 600 exhibitors spanning 175,000 net sq. ft. of New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
In response, the institute teamed up with 37-year-old Cosmoprof, an annual event in Bologna, Italy, and reinvented itself as Cosmoprof North America. The show is operated by North American Beauty Events, a partnership between BBSI and a consortium of Italian companies that includes Cosmoprof's owner, Unipro.
Together, the groups reinvented the Las Vegas event. In its second year under the Cosmoprof banner, the July 18–20 show featured many changes. First, citing a more upscale ambience (a deciding factor in this industry) and the convenience of keeping everything under one roof, organizers moved the show from the LVCC to Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
"Much, much better," said exhibitor Shari Wirick-Boehm, Bed Head's district director, when asked about the new venue. "I hope they never go back." Cosmoprof is holding space at Mandalay Bay through 2006.
The floorplan at the new location was radically different. Sweeping diagonal main avenues cut through cross-aisles, mimicking the modern angles being clipped into models' hair in the show's salon-style exhibits. The exhibition was divided into five pavilions: cosmetics and personal care; packing and manufacturing; wellness and spa; nails and tools; and LOOKS, a fashion runway-meets-theater, where hairdressing celebrities demonstrated the latest techniques from Europe.
This reorganization reflects organizers' strategy for show growth: bring together under one roof manufacturers of equipment, products and services from all over the world to meet with U.S. distributors, as well as salon and spa owners. This year's show drew exhibitors from 27 countries, with seven of them organized into national pavilions.
The strategy was fortified by an agreement, sealed during the show, to merge BBSI with the American Beauty Assn. and The Salon Assn. The three groups combined will be known as the Professional Beauty Assn. and will continue to produce Cosmoprof North America, as well as the Intl. Salon & Spa Expo, next scheduled for Feb. 5–7, 2005 in Long Beach, Calif., and expecting 30,000 attendees.
Although membership numbers were not released, Steve Sleeper, executive director for North American Beauty Events, said the merger would help grow the show. "By uniting the organizations and coupling them with the global Cosmoprof brand, we are setting the stage for the future."
All the changes appear to be taking effect. Sleeper reported that this year's 761 exhibitors covered 213,362 net sq. ft. and drew 25,000 attendees. "Mandalay Bay is our new home!" he added.
Both exhibitors and attendees responded positively, for the most part, to the changes. "This is one of the best beauty shows I've been to in years," said Jim Kumiega, owner of Face-to-Nail spa in Springfield, Mass. "I've learned a lot to take back to my staff."
Exhibitor Elaine Binder, executive vice president of spongeables, said she'd done the rounds of tradeshows to introduce her new all-in-one soap and sponge, and Comsmoprof North America elicited a comparatively high percentage of qualified distributors show interest.
But some felt show management had further improvements to make. Richard Konik of RAK cosmetic Consulting Services complained about the slow move-in and pointed out a shoddy job of carpet-laying in his booth. "I think they're trying to give it a more European feel, but they got confused between the way Americans do things and the way Europeans do things," he observed.
Next year's Cosmoprof North America is July 24–26.
