“The landscape has changed in Las Vegas,” said Gannon Brousseau, Emerald Exhibitions Senior VP who manages the jewelry division of the business-to-business trade show company.
Lately much of that change has been driven by Brousseau and Emerald Exhibitions. They’ve managed to corral two jewelry trade associations, an established antiques trade fair and add a new jewelry trade show called “Premier.” This new combined event will consist of three trade shows that will “co-locate” in the Las Vegas Convention Center, May 31 – June 4, 2019, during the midst of what is commonly referred to as “Las Vegas Jewelry Week.”
To add to this change, JCK Las Vegas, the largest jewelry trade show in North America, and its sister show, JCK Luxury, will move from the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, to its original home at the Sands Expo and Venetian Las Vegas resort. Both shows are owned by Reed Exhibitions, an international events organizer.
In a rare bit of consistency these days, Couture Las Vegas and CoutureTime, luxury jewelry and timepiece trade shows owned by Emerald Exhibitions, will remain at the Wynn Resort and the Wynn Encore, respectively. This means the majority of the approximate nine jewelry and watch trade fairs held during the week will be located roughly in the same area—a relief for those of us who attend multiple shows.
Brousseau said Premier was created for independent jewelry designers and established small- to mid-size jewelry brands and manufacturers. It will join both the American Gem Trade Association, which represents the natural colored gemstone and cultured pearl industry in North America, and the Las Vegas Antique Jewelry and Watch Show, a trade show owned by Emerald Exhibition.
In June, the Italian Exhibition Group, which represents jewelry manufacturers in Italy, said it will join Premier. Brousseau views this commitment as the final piece for the show’s initial success. “We now feel an overall shift in the ecosystem that we’re creating. It was an exciting moment to have the Italians.”
Drew Lawsky, Emerald Expositions Group show director, said it’s important to note that the combined event has compatible products under one roof. Buyers who source gemstones may also look for antique jewels and objects, and also for new and undiscovered jewelry talent or familiar names from the U.S. or Italy.
“Premier is a new event, but it’s an important component of two major shows within shows already going to be there,” he said. “The emerald antique jewelry and watch show has been in Vegas for 25 years. They moved to the convention center in 2017 and exhibitors loved it. The second anchor is AGTA, which decided to join the antique jewelry watch show, and to do their event alongside them. We view Premier as the cherry on top.”
He adds, “One badge gets into everything, no separation by walls or halls or evalators—three entities in one place, under one roof.”
Lawsky says the goal is to have more than 200 exhibitors for Premier, which would make a total of approximately 900 booths for the combined event.
Value and control
Brousseau said it was important that the new event is well-defined, compatible and affordable.
“We saw an opportunity to launch an event that provides a cohesive opportunity at a cost-effective rate,” he said. “It had to be an affordable alternative. ROI isn’t what it used to be. Its difficult to be a 10 x 10 booth and do business at a trade show.”
Both IEG and AGTA were longtime exhibitors at JCK Las Vegas and the announcements that they were moving to the new event came as a surprise to much of the industry. Douglas K. Hucker, CEO of the AGTA, said it was a bit of a surprise to him as well as he wasn’t pursuing a change of venue.
Hucker said he was involved in negotiations to renew its contract with JCK Las Vegas when he was contacted by Emerald Exhibitions. The “AGTA GemFair Las Vegas” has partnered with JCK since the first JCK show in 1992. He said it was the combination of more affordable spaces for its members, joining an established show (Las Vegas Antique Jewelry and Watch Show) that is compatible with gemstone exhibitors, and having more control over the location of its pavilion that made the AGTA decide to switch. In addition, the AGTA will now be able to hold education seminars, something it wasn’t able to do in the past because of space and scheduling issues.
“We’ve had a great relationship and run with JCK. The thing is it became apparent to everyone that shows are becoming very expensive for exhibitors. JCK made a decision to move back to Sands Convention Center and Venetian. It didn’t have enough space options for our pavilion and it was expensive,” Hucker said. “We were approached by Emerald Exhibitions and they asked if we would be interested to co-locate with their (antique) show. It provided us an opportunity to have our show with another very attractive show and with an affordable booth package for our members.”
Jeff Bilgore, AGTA president and exhibitor, also noted the importance of the “synergy” with the antiques show and the value the new show represents. “The antique dealer and colored stone dealer have an awful lot in common,” he said.
For AGTA, its most important show is in Tucson, Ariz., in February. Bilgore says the new Las Vegas show will be more affordable than the Tucson show and the savings will be used by the AGTA to market colored gemstones for its members.
“When we explained to our members that you can now show in Las Vegas for less than it costs in Tucson and get a better package, the membership became very supportive of the move,” he said.
Hucker said that anywhere from 300 to 320 AGTA members exhibited at JCK Las Vegas each year. As of now about 250 members have signed on to the new show. Some will stay with JCK. “Some people don’t like change. We have members who will want to stay at JCK but we’ve been very gratified by the strong response we’ve had.”
‘The star of the show’
Italian Exhibition Group owns a large number of trade fairs in Italy and manages Italian pavilions at trade shows around the world. Marco Carniello, director of IEG's Jewelry & Fashion Division, describes the U.S. as one of the two largest markets for Italian jewelry, accounting for 1.4 billion euro the past year, out of a total of 6 billion euro in Italian jewelry exports annually.
He pretty much echoed what Hucker said, that affordability, control over space and being with compatible exhibitors were the reasons for going with Premier. There was one more incentive that closed the deal for IEG.
“JCK is a very special organization and we were cooperating very well with them but what was happening the past three years is the companies (in the IEG pavilion) were increasingly unsatisfied with the results,” he said. “It was mainly related to not having enough visibility of the Italian companies and not attracting the right buyers.”
He added, “Emerald Exhibitions will provide us the highest visibility. The Italian pavilion will be the star of the show. It’s not important for us to be with the biggest show. We really are more interested to be in a defined and segmented show where you know the buyers and the buyers know what they’re going to find. Italy will have the role of the star in the front of the convention center. When people enter Premier they will first come to Italy. That is of course the biggest incentive.”
This whole thing started with the Las Vegas Antique Jewelry and Watch Show, which moved its show to the Las Vegas Convention Center this year due to a scheduling conflict. It was supposed to be a one-time move. However, Katrina Canady, show manager, said the approximate 400 exhibitors “loved” the convention center and Emerald Exhibition officials started working on a plan to find compatible exhibitors.
“The convention center met our needs very well and we worked out a plan to expand and collaborate with others,” she said. “We loved our home in Paris (Las Vegas) but it’s nice to have an option to expand.”
Another advantage she said is exhibitors will have options on where to stay since the convention center isn’t part of a larger resort. “It’s a benefit not being tied to room nights at a specific hotel. It gives them the opportunity for other accommodations. Getting to the convention center is pretty easy since it’s close to the monorail and hotels.”
JCK Returns To The Sands
The return of JCK Las Vegas to the Sands/Venetian complex is welcomed by anyone who attends multiple shows in Las Vegas. JCK was isolated on the south end of “the Strip” while most of the activity was three miles away. Now people will be able to walk from the Sands to the Wynn to visit Couture and have another short trip to the convention Center.
Yancy Weinrich, Senior VP of Reed Jewelry Group, says she expects more than 2,200 exhibitors to participate in the 2019 JCK Las Vegas show, about the same as in 2018.
“The Sands/Venetian complex is slightly smaller yet configured more efficiently than Mandalay Bay, and we want to ensure that we continue to allow space to enhance the experience through lounges, speaker stages, experiential areas, and by bringing in new technology and initiatives to teach retailers about the store of the future,” she said. “We also have a specific focus to bring in new exhibitors to JCK each year to provide new content, product and services for retailers to take back to their stores. For the past two years, we have added approximately 350 new exhibitors to the show each year.”
JCK already replaced the AGTA and IEG pavilions with a new "Global Gemstone Pavilion" that is already sold out and a new Italian pavilion, Weinrich said. It is adding a new pavilion for security products and services, which is an important and growing area in the jewelry trade.
JCK also added a new trade organization to the mix: The International Colored Gemstone Association, which represents miners, gem cutters, suppliers, educators and others in the colored gemstone world. It will take approximately 70 booths in the new gemstone pavilion.
“It has been a long time desire of our members to have the opportunity to exhibit at the JCK Las Vegas Show in an ICA pavilion. With the move back to the Sands, JCK was able to offer us the space,” said Clement Sabbagh, ICA president. “We are very excited to present our largest North American ICA exhibition next year.”
Weinrich said that location wasn’t the main reason behind the return to the Sands. When JCK moved to Mandalay Bay in 2011, it was because the facility was a major upgrade over the Sands, she said. The decision to return to the Sands was because of recent renovations.
“At the time that we made the decision to move to Mandalay Bay, the Sands was in need of some major improvements, so it made sense due to the state of the art convention center that Mandalay Bay offered,” she said. “Since we left eight years ago, the Sands/Venetian has made major improvements and upgrades to the facility, which we are thrilled to be able to take advantage of. The move back to the Sands as well as the move to Mandalay Bay was 100% customer driven.”
In recent years large jewelry and watch tradeshows like JCK Las Vegas have had a difficult time. There are a lot of reasons for this. Among them: The ability to order product online by those within the trade; the expense of exhibiting and attending trade shows; and the long-term decline of the traditional jewelry business to new eCommerce operations. Although the past year has seen an increase in U.S. jewelry store sales.
Point of view
Another issue is the lack of focus of the larger shows. JCK Las Vegas has everything under one roof. But if there is a focal point it would be on the largest jewelry manufacturers, retailers and the biggest players in the diamond industry. Other exhibitors, such as independent jewelry designers, whether they have international followings or are just starting out, get lost in the size of the venue and the amount of business being conducted.
For Brousseau, the answer is presenting a tightly defined show. He believes Premier’s focus on independent designers, small- and mid-size manufacturers, and Italian jewelry will provide a curated alternative to the large trade show. Sharing the convention center with AGTA and the antiques show will help bring in buyers that will also want to view the exhibitors at Premier.
“We had to figure out how we should adjust and change,” Brousseau said. “Our decision to launch premier is for mid-tier manufacturers and brands and designers who wanted an alternative environment to exhibit in Las Vegas.”
There are challenges. The Las Vegas Convention Center is third largest exhibition facility in the country with nearly 2 million square-feet of exhibition space on one floor. Creating an intimate environment for exhibitors and attendees will be difficult. Obviously there’s room for growth. Brousseau said he would like to attract companies that provide jewelry making equipment and jewelry supplies; as well as small to mid-level watch companies. This would be compatible with the goal of the event. After that it gets difficult to grow while retaining the show’s intent.
What he’s not interested in are the big players.
“The big companies are not our focus,” he said. “Shows are brands and they need to have a point of view.”
