Trend-setting juried area set for summer Market

This summer, Las Vegas Market introduces Design & Living at the Sands Expo as a platform for buyers of high-end and trend-leading home furnishings. This juried segment of the temporary exhibits will showcase new sources and trend-setting ideas in hopes of attracting high-end retailers, interior designers or small independent retailers looking for a new look or something fresh.

“It will be inspirational and well worth a visit by anyone involved in the home furnishings business,” said Tim Branscome, World Market Center’s director of international business development.

“Design & Living considers product design as a priority, but actually uses a wider criteria in selecting companies to take part,” he said. “We look for companies that offer something unique and new. Based on research, we seek companies who can meet the design demands of a select group of discriminating buyers.”

Buyers can expect to see furniture, a variety of home decor, accessories and art.

“There is a much bigger international component as well,” Branscome said. “We will have several European companies who are well known in their home markets but have never exhibited in the U.S. market before. Likewise we have some interesting products from Latin America and as far away as Australia. And we are certainly keeping this area up to date with the times — there are several exhibitors of new designs made of sustainable materials.”

Pacific Green is one of those exhibitors who will showcase designs made from sustainable materials.

“We are one of the few manufacturers to successfully develop coconut palmwood and produce world-class furniture without the devastation of forests,” said Stan Angelou, international sales manager for Pacific Green. “It’s great that the organizers of (Las Vegas Market) have invited Pacific Green to be in the display for design.”

Guri Ben-Hashal is the owner of Westside Village Imports LLC, which produces contemporary, sculpted wine racks crafted from high-quality, solid mango wood, another “green” resource.

“I’m looking forward to being in Design & Living,” he said. “I feel like it will move us up. I think our products are going to show better, and I hope our products are going to help our neighbors show better, too.”

Originality of the designs, the materials and quality of workmanship are all factors in the selection of companies who will exhibit in Design & Living. A big part of the evaluation focuses on the company’s goals and its targeted buyer.

“It’s not enough to just have well-designed products — we want to make sure that there is a solid enough business structure in place that buyers visiting Design & Living can actually buy what they see,” Branscome said. “We also consider the mix of various companies and how they fit with each other. We are aiming to ensure that everybody brings something unique that benefits all of the other exhibitors. A healthy community of exhibitors is not based on them all being exactly alike or offering the same thing.”

For companies selling to the high-end market, being included in this area is an endorsement that they have “passed the test,” Branscome said.

“Our buyers are guiding us to be at the forefront of trends, so it is important that we place the spotlight on Design & Living.”