News

A surge of enthusiastic buyers from across the country arrived early in Dallas for the first show of the summer season, Total Home & Gift Market, driving record attendance including a historic number of new buyers. Retail decision makers from 47 states attended the trade event, held June 23-29, and ordered deeply to fill depleted inventories.

Attendance was up overall compared with June 2019 and was up compared with January 2021, traditionally a larger event. The number of new buyers was up more than 40% over June 2019. As well, the show continued to expand its geographic footprint: the show saw a 14% increase in buyers from the West, a 24% increase in buyers from the Midwest, and a 36% increase in buyers from the Southeast compared with June 2019.

“This was the strongest summer Total Home & Gift Market in many years,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “Buyers showed up early and ordered deeply. They wanted to be first in line to place orders, and many exhibitors reported 20, 40, 60% increases versus 2019. Buyers from every state arrived with confidence and enthusiasm to fill shelves and discover new products. Most impressive to me was the continuing pattern of new buyers arriving from east and west as well the middle of the country. Thank you to our exhibitors and sales reps who helped deliver a fantastic summer show.”

Buyers from across the U.S. and select countries attended the seven-day trade event that welcomed single and multi-location retail, buying groups, and major stores. Among the first-time buyers was Maura O’Keefe Byrne from Thyme Café and Market in Santa Monica, California. “It’s our first time to Dallas. There’s a lot of energy in the building, a lot of people are out. We have found a lot of things we’ve seen in other places, but a lot of new things too,” O’Keefe Byrne said.

“One of my reps … in Atlanta suggested I try Dallas this time. It’s been a great experience so far, and I know that I’m going to find lots of new things that I wasn’t even expecting,” added Krista Chmielski of Bluemerie Permanent Botanicals in Port Austin, Michigan.

Exhibitors noted the historic traffic, enthusiasm, and strong order writing. “This has been one of our best Dallas shows of all time. A huge amount of customers from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas, but we’re also seeing people from outside of that core demographic here,” Julia Higgins of Two’s Company commented.

“The show GREATLY exceeded our expectations as we significantly surpassed 2019 numbers and opened MANY new accounts,” added Tara Dikos of Transpac. Our hope is that this is the first of many signs that retailers will continue to thrive!”

Home Furnishings

In the Home Furnishings neighborhoods, business was brisk. “It was crazy. We will have the biggest month we have ever had. We were selling ahead of the show and then did a solid week of business with lots of new buyers,” said Amber Graves of C Maddox.

Floral & Holiday

“Orders are at their highest we’ve seen in years. We are encouraged to see our buyers return to Dallas with enthusiasm for the product and optimism for the coming year,” Tom Young of AllState Floral commented.

Gourmet and Housewares

“From coast to coast and the Midwest, everybody’s here. So I can honestly tell you, we’ve met with everybody pretty much around the U.S. And our business is off the charts,” David Shull of Jura observed.

Debuts

Debuting during the show were dozens of new or expanding showrooms including legendary brands and hot new companies across gift and home, housewares and gourmet, holiday and floral to lighting and fashion. Inside The Temps at Total Home & Gift Market, hundreds of new and returning exhibitors in four distinct neighborhoods included the largest collection of vintage home ever seen in Dallas and expanded sections of bath, body and spa.

“Opening day was our biggest day in the history of exhibiting in Dallas. Orders were big and buyers included both loyal and new,” said Susan Shaw, principal with Susan Shaw Jewelry.

“This show has been fantastic. We haven’t done the Dallas market before and we’re really happy we did,” Daniel Basiletti of Ameico concluded. “It’s been busy for us. We met a lot of new customers here that we wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise.”

Lightovation: Dallas International Lighting Show

Taking place at the same time was Lightovation: Dallas International Lighting Show, which welcomed buyers back to the home of residential lighting and numerous expanded and new showrooms across more than 1 million square feet of lighting resources.

The KidsWorld Market

The KidsWorld Market was also in full swing and saw a sharp increase in new buyers arriving to discover children’s apparel and accessories, gifts, toys and more.

While at the shows, retailers participated in special events, seminars, discussions, organization meetings, and tours while also experiencing displays of product trends to inspire their merchandising and ordering. Tastemaker Thom Filcia participated in a conversation with Adam Glassman of Oprah Daily about his design eye and new collection with Feizy.

Additional events included the Gourmet Gold Awards and the HEARTS Awards, celebrating and honoring those who showed outstanding leadership during the pandemic. Uniting multiple industries for the first time, the invitation-only HEARTS Awards was hosted by Carson Kressley and Thom Filicia.

Supporting the comfort, health and safety of all attendees, the market center continues important measures outlined via the plan available on the front page of the website.

For upcoming markets, visit the www.dallasmarketcenter.com.