Mood Mixed at Source International
The first installment of the Source International trade show held, Jan. 12–14 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, didn’t exactly hit the ground running—drawing a mixed response from exhibitors in terms of traffic and efficacy—but many applauded the new venture.
Based on early estimates, the showcase of 320 exhibitors from 17 countries, including groups from Pakistan, Hong Kong and Italy, attracted about 2,000 to 3,000 attendees, close to the expectations of show organizers.
“It’s safe to say we have a launch event and the concept is very good,” said Michael Kazakoff, vice president of SI manager CMP Princeton Inc. “We’re happy with the high-quality level of attendees—including Gap and Coach—and we hope to expand our fashion and technology component next year.”
SI was divided into three zones of activity— materials, fashion and technology—to offer attendees new sourcing channels for raw components, manufactured products and private label clothing, and new logistics, packing and design systems opportunities.
The show was designed to create a onestop- shopping environment for designers, manufacturers and sourcing professionals in the footwear, apparel, luggage and accessory industries, many of whom used to shop at the now-defunct Pan American Leather Fair in Miami.
As a result, many of the exhibitors were leather resources, including suppliers of alligator, crocodile, lizard and other exotic skins, vendors for zippers, snaps and buttons and providers of CAD/CAM software and other technologies. Investronica Inc. took center stage with its Inca Leather Cutting Equipment display.
Most people attending the show said they were happy with what they found.
“It’s very easy on the eye—not too distracting, so you can conduct business,” said Oliver Christian Herold, a New York-based fashion designer who was seeking out new technology resources to expand his business.
Hardware for accessories, handbags and belts was on the top of the list for men’s and women’s designer Marvin Mack.
“Most of the stuff we came looking for we found,” said Mack, who’s based in Philadelphia. “We’re a small company and typically minimum orders are pretty high, but we found some exhibitors who were willing to work with us.”
Reaction varied among exhibitors, many of which had hoped to see more-crowded aisles. A critical factor of success for many hinged on making appointments rather than relying on the hit-and-miss attendees.
For company officials at leather garment manufacturer Swisspo Manufacturing Co. (Pvt) Ltd., one of 23 exhibitors in the Pakistan Pavilion, the show created a gateway to reach American companies, such as Nautica, which had stopped by to research leather accessories.
“We’re getting a good response here,” said director Ghaffar Choudary, noting the company normally attends trade events in Italy, Germany and Paris. “We’d come back.”
Business wasn’t exactly bustling for Ridgefield, N.J.-based AA World Class Embroidery & Embellishment, but sales representative R.J. Salvaggio said the company’s heatsealable appliqueacute;s appealed to representatives from retailer Abercrombie & Fitch and Steve Madden, which were looking for fashion and handbag trims.
But he notes that he’s “not sure if the show is for us.”
“We usually do mostly trim shows where there’s a greater variety of trim companies, which can draw the critical mass of traffic we need,” Salvaggio said.
Scott Raskas, marketing director for Thorofare, N.J.-based Checkpoint Systems Inc., a $700 million provider of tags and labels to retailers including Structure and Gap Inc., said he met with a few retailers and manufacturers but thinks the show could have used more direct marketing.
“We’d always like to see more traffic and think more attendees could have been targeted,” Raskas said, adding the company normally exhibits at Material World in Miami Beach, Fla., and at the Bobbin Tech Conference.
Hal Thiele, whose Milwaukee, Wisc.- based tannery provides leather for shoes and garments, took a wait-and-see approach to whether he’ll attend the show again.
“The discussions we had at the show were good, but if they don’t turn into orders, it doesn’t help business.” —Nola Sarkisian-Miller
