Starting Out: A Handmade Event
By Lisa Plummer -- Tradeshow Week, 5/14/2007
Despite lighter than expected traffic, the American Craft Retailers Expo is off to a good start, according to most exhibitors. Launched at the Las Vegas Convention Center, May 2–4, the show is the first in the Western United States to cater solely to the handmade craft and gift sector.
Six hundred exhibitors turned out to fill 68,000 net square feet of exhibit space, displaying a wide range of one-of-a-kind handmade crafts, such as jewelry, hand-blown glass, wall art and other high-end decorative items.
Produced by Wholesalecrafts.com, the show is also a company first in providing a face-to-face experience for both artist and retailer, as well as a potential opportunity for East Coast buyers to see the work of West Coast artists. With an already-established Web site and strong client base, Wholesalecrafts.com President Nancy Vince and Vice President Mary Strope believed all the ingredients were in place for a successful launch.
Yet, something was definitely missing. Far fewer than the anticipated 5,000 buyers walked the showfloor. Nonetheless, Vince and Strope believed that for a first try, the show was still a success.
"The feedback has been great," Vince said. "People are coming up to me, hugging me, shaking my hand, saying it's an incredible show. The quality of buyers is incredible."
She said that while retailer volume may have lacked in quantity, those in attendance were buying products. Most exhibitors seemed to agree.
"They brought me exactly the kind of customer base I wanted," said Jeffrey Manpearl, a metal sculpture artist from Southern California. "The only problem has been not enough bodies, but we understood that. It's a new show. I know more people will come (next year)."
A few artists said they wouldn't return, but most exhibitors who spoke with Tradeshow Week were enthusiastic, and said the show had great potential. According to Vince, those that "took a chance" and exhibited at the inaugural show would receive priority space options for the following year. She believed 50 to 70 percent of exhibitors would make space reservations for 2008.
Like at its main competitor, the Buyers Market of American Craft show held in February in Philadelphia, not just anyone can exhibit at ACRE. Artists must meet certain quality standards and be juried by a panel of judges, many of them well-known artists whose work is on display at top galleries. All art must be made by U.S. or Canadian artists. Applications and judging are done online, which Vince believed, because of the convenience, contributed to greater jury participation.
Unique to the handmade gift show market was ACRE's emerging artists area. As well as meeting the standards to be accepted into the show, these exhibitors also had to meet additional criteria, such as having a limited product line, possessing five or fewer wholesale accounts and never having exhibited in a tradeshow before. Vince and Strope believed many buyers in search of new, original art were especially drawn to this sector of the show.
Though there are many gift shows in existence, Strope and Vince said the handmade gift market continues to grow in popularity because of the growing interest in personal adornment and in home design, especially for those with more disposable income.
ACRE is set to return to the LVCC April 26–28, hoping to improve participation by harnessing some of the weekend traffic.
"It'll grow," Vince said, "We have a whole year to market it."
