ABC draws mostly positive reviews

Las Vegas — The second annual All Baby and Child Expo got under way here last month with increased attendance all around and a mostly positive response from attendees. And despite a labor strike from the Teamsters as set-up was beginning, the show got off without much of a hitch.

Although most attendees seemed pleased with the show, there were still grumblings from exhibitors about opening the show to a wider audience, as well as a few complaints about layout.

"I've heard nothing but good comments from just about everyone, and most companies said they wrote a lot of business," said show organizer Larry Schur.

Official numbers from the board of directors put the exhibitor attendance at 1,100, up from 830 last year, and the buyer count at 3,000, up from 1,600 in 2003. The number of booths at this year's show was 1,400, up from 1,100 last year, and the number of private showrooms increased from seven in 2003 to 18 this year.

The Teamster strike caused a few wrinkles at set-up time, particularly as companies were trying to receive their products. Schur worked with G.E.S. Exposition Services, the exhibition service company in charge of the show, to provide solutions for truckers that didn't want to cross the picket lines that surrounded the convention center. Undisclosed locations were set up in other areas of Las Vegas where G.E.S. would accept the packages and then truck them into the convention center themselves.

"It slowed down the freight coming into the building," said Schur, "but by showtime, everything was mostly set up and ready to go."

Greg Doerfler, a partner at Lullabye Shop in Appleton, Wisc., said that overall, he was very impressed with what he saw at the ABC Expo. "I couldn't be happier with what was brought product-wise," he said. "We saw a lot of new, innovative things. For us, the show has been phenomenal. We spent more money here than we have at any show ever. From a retailer's standpoint, I don't think there's anything they could have done better."

From the manufacturers' point of view, however, many hope that the ABC Board will consider opening the show to additional vendors for next year. Currently, the show is limited in attendance to independent stores, defined as retailers who are not publicly traded and who are not national in scope — meaning they do not have a presence in the majority of the 50 states.

"Even if you don't want the masses in here, the fact that you don't want specialty catalogs, department stores or national chains at any price doesn't make sense," said Stewart Paul, president of P.J. Kids, at the Open Forum (see story below).

This was a common complaint among many exhibitors, especially those who do a good deal of business with catalogs, e-commerce sites and higher-end department stores.

In all, though, most people reported a good show.

"The show was fabulous. Really, really great," said Stellario D'Urso, president of stroller company Inglesina U.S.A.

Mari Janisdotter, president of first-time bedding company exhibitor Gus & Max, echoed that sentiment. "This show, because it's so focused on small stores, is important to us because we want to be unique," she said. "The show has been tremendous for us because we got exposure to so many smaller stores."

Those smaller retailers also seemed pleased, for the most part, with their exposure to new products.

"I have found the show better than the first year," said Terry Biegert, owner of Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Kids Korner. "I've hit a lot of new vendors, done a lot of buying, and I'm already looking forward to next year's show."

But with 1,100 exhibitors, retailers like Barry Gevertz of San Bruno, Calif.-based Lullaby Lane said that he felt there were too many vendors. Still, said Gevertz, "I found lots of innovative things, and everyone was in a really good mood. It feels like business is healthier."

Next year's ABC Expo will be held in Las Vegas from Sept. 9-12, 2005.

Kids Today Managing Editor Tanya K. Merritte contributed to this article.