CHICAGO — More, more, more.
That should be the 2007 motto of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, where market organizers are pairing StyleMax, Chicago’s largest women’s apparel market, with Chicago Collective, the men’s apparel market, in February, and with the National Bridal Market in March.
“That’s our strategy for 2007,” said Susan McCullough, senior vice president for apparel for Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., “to cross-promote shows and combine the dates when it makes sense.”
McCullough believes that holding StyleMax on the Mart’s seventh floor and the men’s Chicago Collective on the eighth floor will encourage crossover traffic for those retailers who sell both men’s and women’s apparel.
“We still feel there’s a synergy between the two shows,” she said.
McCullough said market organizers have worked to better promote both shows by placing advertisements in WWD and DNR as well as sending direct mail and e-mail blasts. “We’re expecting that to be a place for growth,” she said of the potential crossover traffic. In 2006, the Mart could have better publicized the fact that the two shows coincided for the first time, she said. “We were too quiet about it, too subtle.”
In 2007, StyleMax, a summer-fall preview, will run Feb. 3 to 6, and the men’s show will run from Feb. 4 to 6.
Visitors to StyleMax will notice two newer elements to the floor: a more cohesive collection of bridge resources and the Accessory Zone, a grouping of jewelry, handbags, shoes, scarves and other items. Market organizers plan to highlight the area of about 200 vendors with specific signage, hoping to create a separate identity.
“Accessory lines break in February and August,” McCullough said, explaining the timing of Accessory Zone. “You want to cast the spotlight when they have new product.”
At the same time, consolidating bridge resources made sense, as many were displaced by the Pure Contemporary section of StyleMax. “They got scattered and diluted,” McCullough said about some of the bridge vendors. “Now they’ll be more front and center. Hopefully, doing that will let us get some new companies.”
In March, StyleMax will coincide for the first time with the National Bridal Market. McCullough said she believes there is a tremendous opportunity for crossover shopping in the category of special occasion wear.
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Additionally, more bridal boutiques are expanding their selections to include swimsuits, flip-flops, lingerie and jewelry to handle the influx of destination weddings, McCullough said.
“We anticipate a really strong showing between the two shows,” she said. “There are some natural synergies to it.”
StyleMax is scheduled for March 24 to 27 on the Mart’s seventh floor, and the National Bridal Market is set to run March 25 to 27 on the eighth floor. Another market, a spring gift show called “The Chicago Market: Living & Giving,” will also run March 24 to 27 in the permanent showrooms at the Merchandise Mart.
During the Bridal Market, which attracts some 300 exhibitors, retailers are offered the opportunity to attend various seminars and fashion shows during the three-day trade show. The first is “Retail Academy…The Business of Bridal,” held March 24 with an 8 a.m. breakfast and 8:30 a.m. presentation on the second-floor pedway in the Merchandise Mart Conference Center. On Sunday, March 25, new buyers may find it helpful to check out a seminar called “Maximize Your Shopping Experience,” held at 9 a.m. in conference room A in the eighth-floor market suites. Later that night, “The Magic of Bridal” market party and bridal fashion show begins at 6 p.m. with the fashion show set for 6:30 p.m. in the eighth-floor special events atrium. The following night, the market holds a “Late Night Shopping Mix & Mingle Party” from 5:30-7 p.m. on the show floor.
Additionally, retailers and manufacturers will find out the nominees for the 2006 DEBI awards, which honor excellence in the bridal industry. Winners are then named at the National Bridal Market held here in October.
Meanwhile, at the March StyleMax, which features fall 2007 fashions, its Pure Contemporary show-within-a-show makes a comeback.
“We hope to continue on that success,” McCullough said of grouping contemporary resources together in their own area with a DJ, lounge, complimentary coffee and more modern fashion displays. “Those people want to feel different. They loved everything we did.”
Creating a different feel for the area helped attract 50 new resources to the last Pure Contemporary staging at StyleMax, held in October.
“You’ve got to keep trying new things and leveraging what you have,” McCullough said.
March 5 and 6, a new regional contemporary trade show called Coast will give Midwest retailers a chance to wrap up business begun at New York markets such as Moda, FAME, Intermezzo and Coterie.
Karen Bennett, who is launching Coast at the Omni Chicago Hotel, expects about 12 New York contemporary showrooms to participate. “Usually they have to go out on the road and travel from store to store,” Bennett said of the reps. “My purpose is to meet the stores half way.” Bennett said she plans to stage Coast twice a year in Miami, Boston and Washington, D.C. (For more on Miami, see page 19.)
And June 1 to 4, the Chicago Apparel Center will host the Women’s and Children’s Chicago Apparel Market in showrooms on floors six and 13. To assist retailers in between the trade shows, many showrooms also conduct Market Monday, set for
Jan. 22 and May 7.