TRADE SHOWS
IFJAG Vendors Keep Busy at Hotel Venue
The International Fashion Jewelry and Accessories Group took over three floors at the Embassy Suites near the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for their third show in Las Vegas, held Feb. 10–13.
The group has decided that Las Vegas is a great venue for an annual February show at the same time the other Las Vegas trade shows are being held. IFJAG also organizes two shows a year in New York for its group of manufacturers, designers and importers of fashion jewelry and accessories. “There are 85,000 buyers here in Las Vegas,” said Don Valcourt, the show director and IFJAG’s managing director. “It’s good to piggyback on that.”
R.M. Manufacturing, which has been in business since 1983 in Chicago, took three suites toshow its fashion jewelry and accessories. The jewelry business has become as tough as the apparel business, said sales representative Don Kang, so vendors spend a lot of time on the road to meet clients as well as participate in trade shows. “The buyers aren’t buying like they used to, but they do have to have merchandise,” Kang said.
Linda Chu, the chief executive of J Goodin fashion jewelry in Brea, Calif., said she had a successful show after seeing 25 to 30 buyers in the first two days. “It was definitely productive,” she said. “We met so many new customers, and there was a lot of crossover from the other shows.”
Berc Karakas, president of Alexis K. Inc., was introducing his Birch + Steel line of men’s stainless-steel jewelry, which is a popular trend right now. “This trend has been building in the last two years, but this last year has been the best for men’s jewelry,” he said.
