Resortwear Show Producers Rethinking Next Event

Buyer traffic was lower than expected at the sophomore run of the California Resortwear Show, held Sept. 28–29 at the Newport Dunes Resort in Newport Beach, Calif., according to show producer DMG World Media. Although some vendors reported good business, the future of the show is up for grabs, said Lori Kisner, vice president of DMG.

“We will look to what exhibitors want, and we’ll follow their lead,” Kisner said. “If they want to continue with it, we’ll do it.”

Atlanta-based DMG preregistered 490 buyers. The company’s target attendance was 300, but only 239 appeared, a slight increase from last year’s debut show. Exhibitor attendance was at 150, on par with last year’s show.

Retailers such as Nordstrom; SunDiego, a San Diego–based boardsports apparel chain; and Gary’s Island of the Newport Beach, Calif.–based Fashion Island shopping center browsed the resortwear, along with buyers from JW Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert, Calif., and the San Diego Zoo.

The opportunity to show goods to these buyers made the show a positive experience for Donna von Hoesslin, owner of Betty Belts, a Santa Cruz, Calif.–based belt and jewelry manufacturer.

“I expected it to be cool because SunDiego was going to be here,” said von Hoesslin, who sold a test order of 500 belts to SunDiego on the second day. “That big fish made the whole show worth it.”

Other vendors gave DMG high marks for the efficient way the company produced the show in a big white tent at the Newport Dunes Resort, a few blocks away from the Pacific Ocean and Fashion Island. But the issue of low traffic was hard to shake, said Steve Barraza, chief executive officer of Los Angeles–based manufacturer Tianello.

“They got to get a better date,” Barraza said. “September is difficult. MAGIC [International in Las Vegas] is in August, and buyers already spent a lot of money there. Then you ask them to spend more four weeks later.”

The show was intended for Southern California retailers who prefer not to travel to out-of-state shows or make trips to the Fashion District in downtown Los Angeles.

Retailers such as Gayle Hanson, owner of Gaylee Signature Spa in Newport Beach, applauded the show’s friendly access to Orange County retailers. “If it’s convenient, and it’s fast, and it’s easy, there’s a need for this show,” said Hanson, who shopped for immediates.

DMG spread the word to buyers with a thorough marketing campaign. The company sent 10,000 pieces of direct mail and followed up with telemarketing efforts and visits to retailers.

Retailers Laura and Braulio Cano Busquiazo visited the show from their Newport Beach shop Beach Boutique after a personal visit from DMG. Laura Cano Busquiazo ordered ponchos from Laguna Niguel, Calif.–based manufacturer Yogita, but she said it was hard to make purchases at the show because it was scheduled so soon after the Sept. 10–12 run of the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in San Diego, which featured 450 manufacturers. “After going to San Diego, I didn’t see much where I thought, ’ I have to have it,’” she said.

Growth in market

According to Marshal Cohen, chief apparel analyst for The NPD Group Inc., a Port Washington, N.Y.–based market research firm, the popularity of resortwear is increasing but it is hard to define the category. That is one reason why his company does not estimate the size of the market.

Resortwear runs the gamut, encompassing products that go beyond the staples of swimsuits and coverups. Standards, such as Aloha shirts, naturally are a part of this market, but surfwear can be an important aspect of it, too. There’s no limit to the age of the resortwear demographic, although the desired customer age range runs from 18 to 54.

Cohen said he knows the market is increasing because his company saw preseason buying grow in 2002. “Consumers started saying, ’I don’t want to look like everybody else’—they started looking early in stores,” he said.

Instead of waiting for the traditional spring months to purchase warm-weather clothes, many consumers bought such apparel in the January and February preseason. “It’s not Resort—it’s early Spring,” Cohen said.

Kisner said DMG will decide whether to produce another California Resort Show in late January, after producing the Surf Expo show Jan. 7–9 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.