Toys'R' New York City

Toy association keeps fall show in New York, winter fair site undecided

By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 5/2/2005

Gamblers: "You would be wise to bet on New York."

That's what Toy Industry Assn. President Tom Conley said when asked about the fate of the winter American Intl. TOY FAIR shortly after the TIA board's April 19 unanimous decision to keep the American Intl. Fall Toy Show in New York indefinitely.

Whether TOY FAIR will take place in 2007 and beyond in New York, its home for more than a century, or move to Atlanta or Orlando, will be decided at the May 20–22 TOYCON, TIA's annual meeting in Phoenix.

"It's certainly not a done deal," Conley said, but "it really tends to favor staying in New York. I really don't think that it (the decision) will be that difficult."

The 2006 TOY FAIR is contracted to take place Feb. 12–15 at Manhattan's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, which is set to expand its exhibit space to 1.1 million square feet by 2009. TOY FAIR, the largest toy tradeshow in the Western Hemisphere, generates more than $55 million in economic impact for the city.

TIA launched the fall show in 2003 to appeal specifically to mass merchandisers, like Wal-Mart and Target, which wanted a closed, appointment-only, showroom-style event earlier in the buying cycle.

Although TIA had considered moving the fall show previously, the group began to ponder the option more seriously when it was announced in October that new owners had bought the fall toy show's hub showroom buildings — 200 Fifth Ave. and 1107 Broadway (collectively known as the Intl. Toy Center). The new owner, the Chetrit Group, several weeks ago announced that the toy center would be converted into condominium apartments and exhibitors who occupied showroom space during both TOY FAIR and the fall show would be displaced. Subsequently, TIA began exploring options for the future location of the TOY FAIR.

The decision to keep the fall show in New York was based on assurances received from the Chetrit Group that the Oct. 24–27 show can take place in the current showrooms. The TIA board also decided that the 2006 fall show will be held in New York at a venue yet to be determined.

TOY FAIR (No. 55 on the 2005 Tradeshow Week 200) last spanned 330,000 net square feet with 1,230 exhibitors and over 34,000 attendees Feb. 20–23.