LAS VEGAS – Approximately 50 Canadian resources serving furniture, home furnishings and gift retailers will open their showrooms at the World Market Center this coming Sunday morning for the Winter 2020 edition of the Las Vegas Market.

Held twice each year and operated by International Market Centers – which also has extensive showroom operations in High Point and owned the gift and furnishings markets in Atlanta – the Las Vegas Market (LVM) is the largest furniture trade event in the western United States. Its exhibitors present an estimated 2,000 lines of furniture and mattresses over some four million square feet and 31 floors of the World Market Center.

The organisers divide the market into three broad categories: furniture, including mattresses and related products and services sold by furniture retailers; home décor; and gift. The event attracts retailers in all three categories as well as interior designers.

Furniture, mattresses and related:

• Amalfi Home – B1280
• CabinetBed – B220-12
• Canadel – B101
• Cannabeds – C1565
• CDI International – B100
• ComforTek – B200-01
• Corriveau Outdoor Furniture – C1236
  Decor-Rest Furniture – A554
• Flair Enterprises – A1000
• Glen Dimplex Americas – A1042
• Heft – B201-28
• HealthGuard – B860
• Magnussen Home – A730
• Marshall Mattress – B922
• Palliser Furniture – B1001
• Prepac Manufacturing – B705
• Primo International – C1412
• RATANA – C1235
• Reemka – B350
• Sealy Sofa Convertibles – B1028
• Stellar Home Furnishings by Cyme Tech – C1565
• Streamline Art – B346
• Stylus, Made to Order Sofas – B780
• Sunpan Modern Home – B700
• Tailbase – B1050
• XSENSOR – C1579

LVM has also carved out a niche as the foremost market for the mattress industry in the U.S. The Canadian branches of the major producers are also expected to be in attendance in their parent company’s various showrooms. Among them are: Kingsdown (C1588); Sealy (C1496); Tempur (C1512); Serta (A701); Simmons/Beautyrest (A514).

Because of its recent acquisition of Bush Industries, Canadian ready-to-assemble furniture manufacturer Bestar is also expected to have a presence at the Winter 2020 event. The Bush showroom is located in A1036.

Gift:

• Amped & Co – P1-2005
• Green Import – C974
• Hape – C1097
• Kitras Art Glass – C1106
• Lynn Lianna – P1-2060
• Metallic Evolution – C1106
• Option 2 / Walpert / Silver Tree – C799
• Sandpiper Distributing – P1-2064
• Torre & Tagus – C156
• Zen Yarn Garden – P1-3138

Home décor:

• Boutique A la cARTe – P1-1098
• Canvas Candy – A446
• Chive – C553
• Elite Home Theater Seating – A238
• Giftcraft – C639, C644
• LH Imports – C485
• Mercana Furniture & Décor – B316
• Mood Dekor – B365
• Northwood Collection – A430
• Picture Depot – B349
• RENWIL – A425
• Vertuu Design – B365

Miscellaneous:

• Hemkund Furniture – B270-04A
• Picture this.today – B Lobby
• RAM Game Room – B270-15

 The Winter 2020 edition of the Las Vegas Market will run from 26 to 30 January.

VANCOUVER – Canadian direct-to-consumer furniture retailer Article has added retail veteran Wendy Youds to its senior leadership team as its first vice president of product and merchandising.

In this new position, she will lead Article’s product development and merchandising strategies with an eye to delivering beautiful, high quality product to its customers, who are based mainly in both Canada and the United States.

A native of the United Kingdom, Youds joined Article from Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), the Vancouver-based sporting goods specialist where she spent the past three years as senior director of product design and production.

Prior to that, she spent five years as director of product development for Lululemon Athletica, the publicly held athletic clothing specialist.

Over the past 20 years, Youds has been involved in similar retail endeavours for a number of companies in the U.K., Asia and North America such as Dr. Martens and NEXT Retail, covering a variety of product categories including furniture and homeware, apparel, accessories, footwear, and sports equipment.

HIGH POINT, North Carolina – Canadian furniture industry veteran Jessica Smithson has been named to the 2020 board of directors of WithIt, the women’s leadership development network serving the home and furnishings industries, based here.

Smithson, the only Canadian currently serving in the organisation’s senior leadership, will serve as a vice president and chair the board’s marketing committee. She is the category manager of upholstery for the Dufresne Group, the Winnipeg-based operator of the 11-unit Dufresne Furniture & Appliances. Priior to that, she spent 15 years at Palliser Furniture, most recently as senior manager of data enablement.

Lorrie Kelly, president of Lorri Kelley Advisors, a consulting firm specialising in the home furnishings industry, will serve as WithIt president for 2020. She will be familiar to many in the Canadian furniture industry as she formerly served as a senior executive at Palliser.

“2020 marks my 18th year as a member of WithIt,” Kelley said in a statement. “It has been such a significant part of my life, and the benefits I have realized, both professionally and personally, are simply amazing. The network I enjoy now is completely intertwined to the exceptional women and men I have had the pleasure of serving with as a member of this organization.

“As we look to this New Year, our focus will be on increasing our engagement with each other,” she continued, adding, “We also must remain relevant and current in how we interact and network with each other. To do that successfully, our various social platforms must be interactive, informative, intuitive and simple to use. This requires a commitment to investing both time and money as we evolve in how we effectively connect with our members, our corporate sponsors and our industry as a whole.”

In announcing its new slate of officer, the organiser noted it has a full slate of networking and educational events planned for both the High Point and Las Vegas markets (which opens later this week); including the Education Breakfast and a New York Design Tour. Its annual conference – themed Leading with 2020 Vision – will be held 24 to 26 June at The Westin in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

At this weekend’s Las Vegas Market, it will hold a networking event for WithIt members and sponsors from Canada who continue to support and attend the annual events. It will be held this Sunday (26 January) from 5 to 7pm at the Marshall Mattress showroom, located in space 922 of Building ‘B’ in the World Market Center.

Related Story: Canadian takes over WithIt
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MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – A group of 15 or so furniture resources with permanent showrooms in and around the International Centre here, will open for what’s being billed as the Toronto Winter Furniture Show (TWFS) for three days beginning this Sunday, 26 January 2020.

The low-key event is being held in conjunction with Toronto Home + Gift Market, which will be held at the Toronto Congress Centre from 26 to 30 January. It is also being held simultaneously with the Las Vegas Market.

According to the Canadian Home Furnishings Alliance (CHFA), the following showrooms will welcome visitors for three days being this Sunday:

Artage International
1909 Albion Rd., Toronto ON M9W 5S8
Telephone: (416) 650-5330
artageinternational.com

Brentwood Classics
57 Adesso Drive, Vaughan ON L4K 3C7
Telephone: (905) 761-0195
brentwoodclassics.com

Campio Furniture
5770 Highway 7, Unit #1, Woodbridge ON L4L 1T8
Telephone: (905) 850-6636
campio-group.com

Canadel Furniture
International Centre, Showroom 102
Telephone: (905) 672-8787
canadel.ca

Decor-Rest Furniture
511 Chrislea Road, Woodbridge ON L4L 8N6
Telephone: (905) 856-5956
decor-rest.com

Dynasty Furniture
6830 Columbus Road, Mississauga ON L5T 2G1
Telephone: (905) 670-0110
dynastyfurniture.ca

Edgewood Furniture
7933 Huntington Road, Woodbridge ON L4H 0S9
Telephone: (905) 264-9660
edgewoodfurniture.com

International Furniture Distribution Centre
31 Spinnaker Way, Concord ON L4K 2Y5
Telephone: (905) 738-0699
ifdc.ca

Korson Furniture Design
7933 Huntington Road, Woodbridge ON L4H 0S9
Telephone: (905) 850-1530
korsonfurniture.com

Leather Craft
40 Ronson Dr. Units 6-7, Etobicoke, ON M9W 1B3
Telephone: (416) 614-9155
leathercraftfurniture.com

Leather Living Furniture
2001 Drew Road, Mississauga, ON L5S 1S4
Telephone: (905) 790-6075
leatherliving.ca

Mazin Furniture
8080 Keele Street, Concord ON L4K 2A3
Telephone: (905) 761-1594
mazinfurniture.com

Perri Fine Furniture
212 Oakdale Rd, Toronto ON M3N 2S5
Telephone: (416) 665-1991
perrifinefurniture.com

Springwater Woodcraft
Toronto Gift Fair, Hall 8, Booth 5515
Telephone: (888) 294-6297
springwaterwoodcraft.com

Superstyle Furniture
Simmons Upholstery Canada
Trend-Line Furniture
123 Ashbridge Circle, Woodbridge ON L4L 3R5
Telephone: (905) 850-6060
superstylefurniture.com

So far, this is the only furniture trade event being held in Canada for Canadian furniture and home furnishings retailers in 2020, Cantrex Nationwide, the Montreal-based buying and marketing group is expected to hold its PrimeTime event sometime later this year. But, as of press time, the dates have not been announced.