Dallas Holiday & Home Expo Set

Christmas and floral show to coincide with Dallas Total Home & Gift Market

-- Casual Living, 11/4/2009 1:55:00 PM

Holiday & Home Expo, the nation’s largest tradeshow devoted exclusively to permanent floral, seasonal décor and related decorative accessories, is set for Jan. 13-19, 2010 at Dallas Market Center.

Holiday & Home Expo will run in conjunction with the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market. The FINDS Dallas Temp Show will be open Jan. 15-18.

Exhibitors will feature thousands of new Christmas products – Christmas trees, tree skirts and toppers, ornaments, collectibles, wreaths and swags, garlands, berries and branches, containers and baskets, textiles, tabletop, topiaries, pre-made arrangements, holiday lighting, outdoor décor, Christmas collectibles and novelties, packaging and trim, ribbon, oversized commercial décor and display props as well as permanent botanicals, foliage and trees.

The show owned and produced by Dallas Market Center and endorsed by the American Floral Industry Association (AFIA), offers exhibits in the International Floral & Gift Center and adjacent Christmas & Floral FINDS and Garden & Outdoor FINDS areas as well as additional showrooms in the adjoining World Trade Center and Trade Mart.

Vismax will open a new showroom in the IFGC for January, located at 2F225. IFGC showrooms expanding for January 2010 include GSC (1F115), Tom Floral (2F420), Naturalstar (2F421), Jascotina (2F134) and Unlimited Containers (1F407).

Two sections of the FINDS Dallas Temp Show will be located adjacent to the IFGC in the Expo area on the 1st floor of the World Trade Center. Christmas & Floral FINDS will feature new companies Joy to the World, Big Stuff, Winter Woods, Chanshine Decorative Lights and Mardi Gras Collection. Returning exhibitors include Christopher Radko, Holiday International, Bauer Pacific Imports, Garden State Foliage, RDG Imports, Zucker Feather Products, Hard Core, Inc., Design Master Color Tool, Raj India
Trading, J. Hofert, American Silkflower, Music N’ Motion and Inge-Glass Ornaments.

A new section for FINDS, Garden & Outdoor FINDS, will also be located in the area and will offer a varied selection of planters and containers, tabletop, decorative outdoor accents, garden accessories, seasonal yard flags, watering cans, weather vanes and lighting to enhance gardens and patios. New exhibitors include Disc-It Cookers, Herbal Delights and Unique Arts.

In addition to new resources, a full slate of seminars will focus on timely topics. Susanna Salk will present “Home Trends & Design Style” by Susanna Salk at noon Friday, Jan. 15 in the Seasons Gallery, IFGC. She appears monthly on NBC’s “Today Show” to discuss design style and has also produced and hosted regular segments on CBS’ “Early Show.” She has been with Elle Décor and House & Garden and is the author of “Weekend Retreats,” which debuted in 2009.

Dutch Master Designer Rene van Rems AIFD will present the program, “Holiday Inspirations: A New European Perspective” at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15 in the Seasons Gallery, IFGC. Van Rems recently received the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) Award of Distinguished Service to the Floral Industry. He attended the Horticultural Institute of Aalsmeer and the Rietveld Academy of Art in Amsterdam and studied in London before bringing his talents to the United States. He is president of Rene van Rems International, a décor staging, creative marketing and consulting company. He also is the author of the book “Rene’s Bouquets,” and a signing will follow the program.

Tom Shay, president of Profits Plus, will speak on “The Internet is for the Dough, Not Just for Show” at noon Saturday, Jan. 16 in the Seasons Gallery, IFGC. Shay was a fourth-generation merchant for more than 25 years and now offers proven advice on promotion, customer loyalty, business management design, employee skill development and financial control.

Floral expert J M.H. Schwanke AIFD, PFCI, AAF will lead several Discovery Tours on the newest Christmas trees, showrooms with the best merchandising, hot trends and great offerings in the Christmas & Floral and Garden & Outdoor sections of FINDS. Schwanke will also lead a social networking session “Get Connected with our Fab Techno Lab” on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. in the IFGC Internet Lounge. Attendees will learn how to build customer relationships in this how to, hands-on class.

Dallas Market Center and AFIA will host a cocktail reception from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14 in the IFGC. During the show, buyers will also have a chance to win a daily cash prize of $500, Wednesday to Saturday. Each purchase order of $500 from a different Holiday & Home Expo showroom or booth submitted will qualify for an entry into the day’s drawing.

Holiday & Home Expo will be held in conjunction with the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, which is multiple markets held simultaneously so that buyers may select from a
wide range of product categories: Dallas Holiday & Home Expo (Jan. 13-19), Dallas
International Lighting Market (Jan. 14-18), and FINDS Dallas Temp Show (Jan. 15-18),
2010. The entire market offers more than 25,000 lines of products.

Showrooms will be open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with participating showrooms offering extended hours until 8 p.m. on Friday. Visit www.dallasmarketcenter.com for the most up-to-date special events and market information. Attendees may contact the Dallas Market Center in-house travel agency, Market Travel, for substantial travel and hotel discounts by calling 1-800-DAL-MKTS.