GLM, Reed Announce New Partnership
By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 5/30/2005
George Little Management and Reed Exhibitions are teaming up again, this time on a new home furnishings show in New York City.
The two tradeshow management firms, both based within a half-hour's drive of New York, last year agreed to collocate GLM's Gourmet Products Show with Reed's Natl. Hardware Show May 17–19 in Las Vegas (see p. 1).
Now, they've formed a 50-50 joint venture to launch Intl. Interiors NY, May 20–23, 2006, at the Show Piers on the Hudson at the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal. If the dates look familiar, they should: The launch of the show — for high-end furniture, home décor, art and textiles — coincides with GLM's established Intl. Contemporary Furniture Fair at New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The combined events will be part of New York Design Week.
Because ICFF is a niche, juried event for finely crafted furniture, GLM had been turning away companies that "didn't fit the description, but wanted access to the designers and architects attending the show," explained Alan Steel, executive vice president of GLM.
Reed, meanwhile, was looking for ways to enter the furniture market, because it "fits into the home and hearth and luxury goods categories we're attracted to," said Greg Topalian, vice president of new business development for Reed.
The former cooperation on Gourmet and Hardware led the two companies to investigate the possibility of something similar in furnishings.
Reed and GLM will co-own IINY. They created a management board which will have three members from GLM and two from Reed the first year; two from GLM and three from Reed the second year; and continue alternating majority representation on the board. Their duties also have been divvied up equally. For example, Reed will handle financial administration and international sales, while GLM will be responsible for operations and national sales.
Steel described the deal as a "long-term commitment."
Topalian, who heads Reed's incubator group, LaunchPad, said research showed that designers who attend ICFF were intrigued by the idea of an expanded product showcase. "They'd like to see a broader range of style, more products they haven't seen before, European vendors they don't get access to. What (GLM and Reed) were able to offer each other fit the needs of the market."
If IINY works out, it will eventually pass from LaunchPad into one of Reed's established industry groups. Topalian said, "The intended goal is two years, two show cycles. We could do more or less, depending on the maturity of the event."
The organizers expect IINY to attract 300 exhibitors and 20,000 trade attendees. The combined shows are expected to draw 800 exhibitors and 25,000 attendees. Steel said attendance registration at this year's ICFF, which coincided with the announcement of IINY, was 25 percent ahead of last year. According to Tradeshow Week research, that show last year drew 18,309 professional attendees to see 491 exhibitors filling 110,000 net square feet.
As for competition from the World Market Center, whose upcoming launch in Las Vegas has been touted by organizers as an industry-changing event, Steel and Topalian said they are not daunted.
