June 2023 Dallas Total Home & Gift Market welcomed buyers from across US

The June 2023 Dallas Total Home & Gift Market experienced steady order-writing among its thousands of exhibitors, including dozens of new and expanding permanent showrooms as well as hundreds of first-time participants in the Temps at Total Home & Gift Market, according to Dallas Market Center. Buyer attendance included retailers and interior designers from all 50 states as well as international buyers from Canada, Central America and South America. The number of buyers attending for the first time continued to outpace pre-pandemic numbers. Attendance also continued to widen geographically: significant gains were made in buyer attendance from the Southeast, Upper Midwest and West, compared with last June’s show, show executives said. “This show clearly exceeded expectations and extended the Dallas momentum,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “We continue to set the pace among trade events in the U.S. We saw loyal and new buyers arriving with optimism for the months ahead and significant open to buy, supported by a strong economy throughout the Central U.S. and more than 370,000 retailers now open for business in Texas alone.” In addition to independent retailers, the buying power from major stores and buying groups added to the marketplace energy and commerce. Those attendees included Southwest Buying Group, BRIXY, MAI (Monograms of America), Museum Store Association, Purchasing Power Plus, Hobby Lobby, World Market, Michael’s, Buc-ees, Neiman Marcus, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Brookshire’s Grocery, Francesca’s, HOM Furniture, The Paper Store, United Supermarket, Von Maur, and many others. More than 300 new and expanding permanent showrooms and Temps debuted during the show, together with special exhibits, events and seminars. Among the exhibitor community, results were shared noting retailer and designer confidence and new buyer traffic. “We had double-digit growth in customer count with a significant increase from the Western states,” said John Keiser, CEO of OneCoast. “This has validated our decision to build OneCoast’s Western Flagship Showroom in Dallas, which will open in January 2024.”

The reimagined Temps

The Temps at Total Home & Gift Market was the largest summer presentation in more than 10 years with more than 1,000 booths. The energy on the floor and consistent order writing was noted by several key exhibitors: “What a joy it was to show in Dallas this year,” said JoAnne Grazzini of The Cat’s Pajamas. “It was stocked with lots of new and established buyers. We opened 22 new accounts, and we got a chance to see some of our great customers as well. We are very happy and will be coming back again!”

Retailer Excellence Awards

The 72nd annual Retailer Excellence Awards took place on June 21, with a crowd of more than 300 guests honoring seven retail winners in seven categories: Specialty Store, Multiple Locations, Visual Merchandising, Store Events, Store Design, Social Media Outreach and Online Initiatives, and Socially Responsible. Gift for Life, the industry charitable organization, presented its Industry Achievement Award to the co-founders of Brandwise, Jannetta and Todd Litzman.

Showrooms supporting World Central Kitchen

In partnership with the industry non-profit organization Gift for Life, select showrooms raised funds for World Central Kitchen during the show. More than $40,0000 was raised via the Retailer Excellence Awards and efforts by Portico Collection, Diverse Marketing and many others.