ATLANTA — ANDMORE announced a wealth of new features and enhancements for its Atlanta Apparel and Atlanta Market events this year.
Atlanta Apparel
ANDMORE’s Atlanta Apparel markets, held five times per year (in February, April, June, August and October) at AmericasMart Atlanta, synchronized the opening dates and hours of their temporary exhibits and permanent showrooms in 2024. Prior to this, they had staggered openings, with permanent showrooms opening first.
According to Karen Olson, ANDMORE’s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, this gives buyers a more cohesive experience.
“We’ve gotten really positive feedback on that, so that’s something we’re continuing throughout the rest of the cycle this year, and I’m sure we’ll continue into the future,” Olson said.
ANDMORE also introduced a Buyer Resource Center to AmericasMart Atlanta, which offers education, events, activations and more.
Additionally, through a new, exclusive partnership with the video commerce platform CommentSold, ANDMORE helps retailers sell on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Shopify and more platforms at “Go Live” booths in the Buyer Resource Center.
“We’re using that to encourage our retailers to sell live real-time at market to their consumers, but also just get feedback … it’s a really great interactive tool for retailers to get their consumers engaged in that wholesale buying process,” Olson explained.
The August 2024 edition of Atlanta Apparel will offer showrooms from July 30-August 2, and temporary exhibits from July 30-August 1.
Related. International Market Centers Unveils ANDMORE
Atlanta Market
According to ANDMORE, Atlanta Market is the largest market of its kind in the gift industry, and the second largest in the home décor industry.
“It’s a very robust offering of product, and it drives a national buyer base … we pull from all 50 states and nearly 200 international locations as well,” Dorothy Belshaw, ANDMORE’s President explained, adding that the show included new layouts and tools to help attendees navigate its vast offerings this year.
Atlanta Market reorganized its Temporaries section, streamlining its product collections by consolidating various categories into broader sections, to enhance buyer navigation and exhibitor exposure.
“It makes it much more of a compelling discovery opportunity for exhibitors … many companies now are developing product lines that cross categories, so it’s harder to pigeon-hole a brand by one subcategory when they’re selling across many. So this gives them the opportunity to be more accurately represented,” Belshaw said.
Additionally, ANDMORE turned the market’s The Gardens section, which displays outdoor gifts and accessories, into a one-floor, restructured experience.
In June, the company also launched a new planning tool for buyers, which is integrated with its market website and @Market App.
Buyers can use the program to create a market plan before a show, enabling them to hit the ground running at the event. Plus, they can organize exhibitors by location, category and more.
ANDMORE is also bringing its new The (A) List initiative to Atlanta Market this summer.
In this program, the company identifies three high-level industry tastemakers as (A)-Listers, and utilizes their channels for exposure, creates on-site manifestations of their curation and more. Atlanta Market’s 2024 A-Listers are Jasmine Crockett, Jordan Jones and Eddie Ross.
“For our industry, for our company and for the world for that matter, influencers are becoming more and more important. So, we’re always looking for new ways to engage people like that and expand our network and our reach to people that we may not reach otherwise,” Olson said.
Atlanta Market’s 2024 summer showrooms will be open from July 16-22. Its Temporaries section will be open July 17-21.
Learn more about ANDMORE’s markets here.
Atlanta Market’s summer and winter editions are part of Trade Show Executive’s Gold 100 Class of 2023, and will be honored at the 2024 Gold 100 Awards & Summit, set for September 17-19 in Santa Barbara, CA.
Learn more about the 2024 Gold 100 Awards & Summit here.
Photo Credit: ANDMORE.
