Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Legal Gambling

I'm soon heading off to Las Vegas for the Las Vegas Market.  Dunitz & Company will be located in Pavilion 1 - Booth 2615, otherwise noted as "The Temps".  Whenever I'm heading off to Vegas, friends & customers always ask if I'll 'hit the tables'.  Truth is, I NEVER win at black jack. And I certain don't win money hanging out with the one arm bandits.  My response usually is - exhibiting at trade shows is my legal gambling.  And it is.  We all prepare endlessly for the shows.  And it costs a whole lot of money to set them up. Dunitz exhibited last season at Las Vegas Market and it was a very disappointing show.  The heating & cooling had not been figured out in the new Pavilion space and we were all sweltering. The buyers didn't want to enter and/or stay in the building.  Even free ice cream couldn't persuade them to 'work the room.'  Even with the, ok, bad show, I still saw potential with this market.  Some of the few buyers that did walk the temps, were quality buyers. I saw several museum buyers.  In fact, Stuart Hata, the buyer from the deYoung Fine Arts Museum brought his colleagues by our booth on a Museum Store Association tour of the hall. (He chose 9 booths to highlight and we were one of them.) Show attendees came from all over the country.   Bottom line. We're rolling the dice again. We'll be in Vegas this weekend - doing our legal gambling at Las Vegas Market. - ND