Western Exhibitors Re-gifts Its Shows

When the Seattle Gift Show closes Feb. 5, it will mark the end of an era for family-owned business Western Exhibitors.

The show was the first one launched by Kay Leber, who also founded the company. Western Exhibitors sold the Seattle Gift Show, the Portland Gift & Accessories Show and the San Francisco Intl. Gift Fair to dmg world media and, according to the terms of the contract, will stop managing the three events after the upcoming shows. The Seattle Gift Show takes place last of the three; it's scheduled Feb. 2-5 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.

“It's very bittersweet,“ said Wendy Tonkin, president of Western Exhibitors. “It's been like a family.”

According to the company's history, Leber produced the first Seattle show in 1929 at the Olympic Hotel with 15 exhibitors of major gift and tableware lines. She started Western Exhibitors a year later.

This year's show is expected to have about 124,000 net square feet of exhibits with about 1,200 exhibitors and 13,000 attendees.

Leber brought her nephew Bert Tonkin, Wendy Tonkin's father, into the business in the early 1950s. He took over ownership of the shows when Leber retired.

Bert Tonkin had majority ownership in 2001 when he, partner Mike Dean and Wendy Tonkin entered an agreement to sell 25 percent of the shows to dmg, Wendy Tonkin said.

“He foresaw changes in the industry,” she added, of her father's decision to sell.

The remaining 75 percent of the shows went to dmg in 2005, and the contract stated that Western Exhibitors would manage the shows through the end of 2007, Wendy Tonkin said.

“That was something we knew back in 2001, when we made the deal with dmg,” she added. Dmg extended the management contract by six months so Western Exhibitors would manage the 2008 shows. George Little Management, a dmg world media company, subsequently will take over management of the shows, along with the East Coast dmg gift shows it already manages.

“Dmg world media first acquired the Western shows because they had built strong marketplaces integral to the West Coast gift industry,” said Mike Cooke, CEO of dmg world media. “As we consolidate our gift operation under the GLM banner, we will fully integrate the Western shows and aim to continue creating the high quality gift tradeshows upon which this market has come to rely.”

Western Exhibitors will continue to have a hand in some productions, although none with such an auspicious history as the Seattle Gift Show. It will continue to manage the Portland Cash & Carry Show, the Seattle Cash & Carry Show and the San Francisco Cash & Carry Show, which also were sold to dmg, Wendy Tonkin said.

“We still own and manage nine Harvest Festivals,” she added, referring to the company's Harvest Festivals – Original Art & Craft Shows, a series of consumer shows that take place in eight California cities and Las Vegas.

Western Exhibitors “took over the ownership and management” of the festivals from dmg in 2005, Wendy Tonkin said, adding, “We are looking at expanding (them).”

The company also is a partner in the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show.

“It has been a great partnership (with) Mike Dean and Wendy Tonkin,” Cooke said. “They are good friends, and the exhibition business is in their blood. I know they will do well in their new endeavors and wish them all the best.”