This month kicks off the commercial furniture show season, which will continue through the middle of June. These shows are important because they not only allow us, as vendors, buyers, designers and/or architects, to see the new designs and trends in the industry (or industries) but allow us to network. The shows are both successful and useful for companies because they connect the buyers, designers and architects to the suppliers. New materials, products and trends emerge for the coming year and the shows function as a meeting place for all to network within all the commercial markets served. As remodels, construction and the overall business improve in 2015 you can see the increased traffic at these shows, creating greater opportunities for all of the industry. The networking part of the exhibition is to reconnect long standing business relationships and create new ones in a place that is the center of the industry we all serve.
The primary shows of the season, coming in May and in June are Hospitality Design (HD) in Las Vegas, followed by the NRA show in Chicago and culminating in mid-June with NEOCON in Chicago. These shows offer us the ability to look at all of the different aspects of the hospitality industry: hotels, restaurants, offices, university or other school furniture and healthcare. All of these different markets require areas for people to dine, and therefore the table bases we design and manufacture. It is important to attend, to see our customers and their customers, cementing the connections in the industry and seeing where the market is headed.