San Francisco, CA – Urban Expositions of Atlanta bolstered its presence on the West Coast by acquiring a pair of gift shows in San Francisco and Seattle that dmg world media had put up for sale earlier this year.
Urban Expositions acquired the San Francisco International Gift Fair and the Seattle Gift Show in a deal that was announced July 6. It will go into effect after the completion of Summer editions of the semi-annual events in August.
The new ownership will take place in time for the Seattle Gift Show from January 23-26, 2010 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center and the February 6-10 San Francisco International Gift Fair at Moscone Center.
Doug Miller, president of Urban Expositions, said the acquisitions of the events fit his company’s strategic goal of building the West Coast show roster, which also includes the Las Vegas Souvenir & Resort Gift Show and the Material World & Technology Solutions textile events in Los Angeles.
“We have been looking for growth opportunities in the western U.S. for some time now and felt that San Francisco and Seattle shows offered a perfect complement to our show roster,” Miller said.
Urban Expositions had 14 shows in its portfolio, including gift events in Orlando, Philadelphia and Galveston, TX. It acquired the Boston Gift Show from dmg last year.
“Urban’s leadership has a strong understanding of the specialized needs of these buyers and exhibitors at these events,” said Alan Steel, executive vice president of the business-to-retail unit of dmg.
The sale of the two shows was part of a divestiture program announced by dmg in May (see The Vault, May 11 at www.TradeShowExecutive.com) in which the company planned to shift its focus toward industry trade markets and away from consumer product events. The deal with Urban Expositions leaves only its Canadian gift shows on the block. The company retained ownership of the New York Gift Fair, Surf Expo and four other consumer-goods events.
Reach Doug Miller at (678) 285-3976 or dmiller@urban-expo.com; Mike Cook, CEO of dmg world media, at (415) 464-8500 or mikecooke@dmgworldmedia.com; Alan Steel at (914) 421-3200 or alan_steel@glmshows.com
