Coverings Goes to Chicago Every Other Year
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 9/26/2005
Coverings, a perennial Tradeshow Week 200 show that has been held at Orlando's Orange County Convention Center every year since 1997, will begin rotating between Orlando and Chicago, starting with the first show at McCormick Place in 2007.
The five tile and stone industry associations that own the show recently decided to hold Coverings in Orlando in odd-numbered years through 2013.
Before it took up residence in Orlando in 1997, the show rotated among a number of cities, including Miami and Anaheim. It debuted in 1990 when it was known as the Intl. Tile & Stone Exposition.
No. 34 on the most recent TSW 200, Coverings in May of this year filled 505,142 square feet, and attracted 1,217 exhibiting firms and 21,423 attendees.
Natl. Trade Productions since July 2003 has managed the show for its five association owners: Assopiastrelle (Assn. of Italian Ceramic Tile and Refractories Manufacturers), ASCER (Spain's Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Assn.), Tile Council of North America, Ceramic Tile Distributors Assn. and the Natl. Tile Contractors Assn.
NTP President Tamara Christian said the move in alternative years to Chicago would allow the show to tap into the large number of companies involved in the tile and stone industry in the Midwest.
"(It) will expand the audience for our exhibitors' products and enhance the entire market for Coverings," she said.
