Looking Back on Las Vegas Market

We had a four-day sleepover–I mean…VERY IMPORTANT BUSINESS TRIP–to Las Vegas Market earlier this month, and it was a blast! We got to meet so many awesome vendors, sit on so many sofas and chairs, eat so much free food (including some amazing kebabs generously provided by Modway Furniture), and go up and down so many escalators. We couldn’t have asked for more!

We did and saw a ton–it’s hard to even keep track!–but I’ll do my best to recap our amazing experience at Market.

After a late flight Saturday night, we got up early Sunday morning and hopped on the shuttle to the World Market Center. The Market Center itself is a marvel of design–it’s a 5-million-square-foot behemoth that demands to be noticed–and the twice-yearly showcase draws in more than 100,000 people annually.

We heard all kinds of languages during our three days walking the many Market showrooms and saw every style you can think of. By the end of the last day we were definitely–ahem-–tired, but came away with so much inspiration and (especially for me, obvious non-designer) tons of new knowledge and connections.

Day One

Our first day perusing the showrooms was an absolute blur, one that left us practically staggering to our Uber as the sun was setting. It started early and ended late, so by the end of the day all of our bodies were toast–think a day at Disneyland, but for designers.

There were people everywhere (and rollerbags galore), usually traveling around in packs like ours and looking just as dazed and excited as we were. Extravagant displays built to stand out in the deluge of vendors were highlighted in the countless windows, with smiling sales reps eager to meet and shake hands, provide food and drink, and even present some live music (there was a saxophonist in the lobby of one of the buildings who was killing it).

It was a little overwhelming, but I thinkg I speak for all of us when I say our adrenaline was pumping.

Market Center is made of three separate buildings, all tall, and each is packed way into the upper floors with showrooms from every vendor you can think of. One of our first stops was Dovetail Furniture, which had incredible selections and some really cute staging. We spent a lot of time in here–there was a lot to see!

Other vendors we got to hang out with were Alder & Tweed, Leftbank Art, Four Hands, Tov, and Modway (shoutout to those kebabs!). It was a blast; we came away with so much inspiration. And this was only day one. Phewf!

I’ll just leave you with this photo of Meredith, one of our designers. It perfectly captures the energy of our first day at Market:

Day Two

If you can believe it, we went even harder on day two than we did on day one. Having wandered a bit aimlessly the day before (it was a lot to take in, okay?) today we had a plan.

And boy, did we execute.

Shrugging off the soreness of the previous day, we arrived bright and early and ready to tackle what we hadn’t already covered (there was a lot).

However, disaster was soon to strike. We packed our free Modway bags with brochures and catalogs of every kind as we went floor by floor for hours and, tragically, lost track of time. We had taken note of all the good food spots the day before but unfortunately missed the window when most of the vendors were serving. *gasp* Chandlar (one of our designers) was out for blood.

Luckily there were some awesome food trucks out in the plaza, which, though not free, kept the “hanger” at bay. So the crisis was averted, and I happily ate what was maybe the greatest grilled cheese sandwich of my life.

Besides that almost-disaster, the day was nearly perfect. We had barely scratched the surface on day one. On day two we were able to get more great ideas, meet more vendors and sales reps (and designer Thom Felicia?? We were starstruck), and even place a few orders for our clients.

I’ll let our photos speak mostly for themselves, but we saw so much cool stuff! Rugs, pillows, cabinetry and wall art, accessories and lighting, it was all there. One vendor even had a really cool display of Middle Eastern treats and spices for us to try. Turns out Turkish Delight is super good!

We ended the day feeling so productive we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner at Grand Lux Cafe! It was fun to wander around Vegas a little after so many hours cooped up inside.

Day Three

Day three was our last–we had a flight to catch in the evening which left things a little rushed. After two days straight of going as hard as we could though, there wasn’t an impossible amount of things to cover. We revisited some places, found some new ones, and stumbled upon some vendors we had definitely missed out on the first two days.

It was kind of like skim-reading though. Even after giving it our all for more than two days, we left with the feeling that we’d definitely be back next year. There was still so much more we could have done!