Coast has a new boyfriend. For its Aug. 15 to 16 event at the Moore Building in Miami, the women’s trade show is teaming up with Aquilon, a traveling men’s show that bowed in May in Seattle, with stops in San Francisco and Dallas. It was love at first sight, according to Karen Bennett and Charles Garone, ENK alums and founders of Coast and Aquilon, respectively. For starters, both agree size matters.
“The most important thing is that everyone gets seen. Retailers are drawn to small regional shows for budget and time constraints, too,” said Garone, who plans to cap the number of exhibitors at 40, compared with Coast’s 235 maximum. Aquilon’s exhibitors include CPT Cockpit USA, Bogosse and Synergy Showroom.
Many Coast attendees already offer or are expanding into men’s. Exhibitors and buyers, 75 percent of which hail from Florida, also requested a fourth show be scheduled in August, since resort is their biggest push. Bennett reports May’s traffic increased 20 percent overall and new retailers were up by 15 percent.