Midwest Furniture Club Readies Fall Show
17th Annual Midwest Furniture Show
Annual Show To Be Held September 18th and 19th, 2024.
CHICAGO, IL April 5, 2024- The final details of the 2024 Midwest Furniture Show have been nailed down. The Show will kick off Wednesday morning at the White Eagle Convention Center in Niles at 8 am. The heart of the Show will be Wednesday 8 am – 8 pm and Thursday 8 am to 5 pm.
The Midwest Furniture Club is accepting applications for the limited available space, according to Allan Landau, who has spearheaded the furniture show for the last 5 years. “We’re back!” says Landau, “and this year, we have more new and fresh vendors than we have had in a while. It feels like the COVID years opened up a lot of opportunity for new lines to come in.”
Brent Jones, a Senior Marketing Specialist at Ashley Furniture and current President of the Midwest Club, has been working with Landau and others to present a new and improved version of the Show. “We have a lot of folks – from our parent organization at IHFRA to new vendors to new customers- excited to have a place to come and really examine their business and consult with their business partners to navigate retail in an era of social media, on-line selling and inflation. The Midwest Furniture Show has become that place.”
In addition to anchors like Magic Sleep, CasaMode, MDA rugs and Ashley, the show is expected to attract new vendors such as New Classic, ProtectAll and Sleeptone. “Some of our vendors such as Ashley and Magic Sleep have supported the Show since it’s infancy. Recently, marketing companies, tech companies and on-line resources have showed, helping our local independent furniture stores compete and evolve,” say Landau.
The Midwest Furniture Show is a regional furniture, bedding and accessories show that is run by the Midwest Furniture Club, one of the largest IHFRA chapters in the United States. Each year the show attracts hundreds of retailers and designers from the Chicagoland and Upper Midwest markets.
Geoff Weed is one of the original founders of the Midwest Furniture Show and still works on presenting the show yearly. “The original concept for this Show was simple. 95% of the accounts in our territories don’t go to market. So, if we can bring some of market to them, we’d all be better for it. Over the years, these customers have benefitted from market specials, interaction with brand managers and the chance to see new lines they are not currently buying. We see way more accounts at this show than we do High Point or Las Vegas.”
“This is a working show. Exhibitors write business and retailers get to see a number of vendors over two days. They can eat breakfast at home and be back home for dinner,” says Landau.
“But we hope they stay all day. We will have coffee in the morning, a free lunch at noon and a social hour Wednesday afternoon of the 14th.”
“It’s a labor of love, with many IHFRA reps contributing to the Midwest furniture community,” says Jones. “Many members of our organization volunteer each year, helping with check-in or planning or clean up. Our group is at heart a service organization for the upper Midwest Furniture community.”
Anyone interested in attending or exhibiting can register at www.midwestfurnitureclub.com or contact Geoff Weed at 312.305.6421.
Geoff Weed
ChicagoFurnRep@gmail.com
312.305.6421
