Here's a Recap of the First In-Person Lighting Trade Show in 6 Months 

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Photo credits: Eurofase
NOTE: Eurofase did not provide any other comments or content for this article.

While the 3-day Dallas Lighting Expo didn't draw big attendance, is this a sign that a safe Trade Show can safely happen during a pandemic?

Balancing the goals of public safety and worthwhile exhibitor marketing investments certainly is tricky.
 

Dallas Market Center is a 5 million square-foot trade center that is popular among residential decor retailers and interior designers.  The marketplace regularly hosts events for various business segments like gifts, fashion, lighting and decor.  Lightovation is an important semi-annual event for lighting brands that focus on residential lighting and/or the lighting showroom channel.   

In case you've never visited, Dallas Market Center is not a convention center with a trade show look and feel. It's a multi-floor marketplace that hosts approximately 50 "Markets" or shows per year.  And it is also open for daily foot traffic when a Market is not happening.  Temporary booth space is often available for individual shows, but the main attractions are the exhibitors that sign leases and occupy showrooms for long periods of time, oftentimes for multiple years.

The Market Center had recently lost one of its long-time occupants and a residential lighting "anchor brand", Kichler, who recently backed out citing COVID-19 as the main reason.  Reportedly the brand’s new parent company, MASCO, is abstaining from all trade shows for the remainder of this year and into next year.

In early July, when Dallas Market Center announced that due to industry-wide COVID-19 disruptions, the marketplace was organizing the Dallas Lighting Expo for August 19-21, we were simultaneously surprised and intrigued.  Safety measures were announced that included a requirement for attendees and exhibitors to wear masks.  We were curious to see what exhibitor and attendee sentiment would be leading up to the event.

We (inside.lighting) did not attend the event, but we connected with multiple people who did.  The comments relating to foot traffic ranged from "slow" to "very slow."  Our sources reported that the safety protocols were generally obeyed and respected.  Our "would you invest in the show again?" question was met with neutral to negative responses, but countered with the optimism that this show could prove to the industry that shows are indeed possible during a pandemic.  That could lead to more successes in the future.

“The Dallas Lighting Expo provided an opportunity for both the lighting showroom channel and the design trade to shop select brands who exhibit during Lightovation shows. About 40 percent of exhibitors on the Dallas Trade Mart’s third and fourth floors chose to be open for the show, many with new products that covered both decorative and architectural categories, plus ceiling fans. Attendance was primarily regional with some notable exceptions.”

 

Laura Van Zeyl, Vice President of Lighting Technology Development & Marketing, Dallas Market Center 


Dallas Market Center is a majorly important marketing channel for residential and decorative lighting.  Consequently, the venue was able to nearly double its exhibitor list in the 6 weeks' time between the July confirmation announcement to the Market's first day on August 19.  Here's a list of brands that exhibited, including notations for ones that backed out and the ones that were late additions to the lineup.  (Some companies exhibited multiple listed brands in the same exhibit space.)

 

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August 24, 2020

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