IMC Breaks Ground on New Casual Furniture Destination at AmericasMart Atlanta
On October 16, 2021, In Industry News by Greg Thompson
A new casual furniture destination is emerging at AmericasMart Atlanta. In preparation for the relocation of the International Casual Furnishings Association’s markets to Atlanta in 2023, owner International Market Centers (IMC) has broken ground on the redesign of multiple floors of AmericasMart’s Building 1 home furnishings collection to create a new buying experience for the casual furnishings industry.
“For visitors to AmericasMart, it is evident that a transformative project is in the works,” noted Bob Maricich, IMC CEO. “Construction signage and offline showrooms are indicators of our preparation and progress towards making Atlanta the new home for the casual market.”
The relocation of the ICFA events and the building redesign are part of IMC’s larger Atlanta NEXT initiative, a multistage capital and strategic investment plan by IMC and parent company Blackstone to reimagine the AmericasMart buying experience. The five-story, nearly 500,000 square foot casual furniture collection will serve as the new entrance to AmericasMart Building 1 with an all-new main registration area to welcome buyers beginning in Winter 2023 during IMC’s Atlanta Market, the nation’s largest gift product mix complemented by a broad selection of home décor. Additional venue updates, to be completed in July 2023 before the first official Casual Market in Atlanta, include a new multistory lobby experience with high-end dining and amenities plus improved connectivity to the city’s famed Peachtree Street.
AmericasMart’s new casual furniture collection will offer spacious, modern showrooms that are purpose-built to showcase design-driven outdoor living brands on four floors with an additional floor of dedicated space for temporary exhibits. Since the announcement of the Casual Show relocation in February 2020, some 40+ brands have committed to showroom space in the new collection.
Newcomers opening in Winter 2023 include Agio-USA, Apricity, Alfresco Home, Bambrella USA, Inc., Barlow Tyrie, Berlin Gardens, Brown Jordan Inc, C. R. Plastics Products, Inc., Castelle Furniture Co, Casual Cushion, Ebel, Elaine Smith, Gensun, Hanamint Corporation, Homecrest Outdoor Living, Illuminated Trees Inc., Inspired Visions, Jordan Manufacturing, Kettler Life Outdoor Living, Kingsley-Bate, Ltd., Kingston Casual, Lloyd Flanders, MAMAGREEN, MoDe, O.W. Lee, Patio Renaissance, Pavilion Furniture, Plank and Hide, Seaside Casual, Summerset Casual, Sunvilla Corporation, Treasure Garden, Tropitone Furniture Co, TUUCI, Veranda Classics, Winston Furniture Company and Woodard—CM. Existing AmericasMart exhibitors committed to be a part of the new collection include Jensen Leisure Furniture, Lane Venture, PolyWood, Ratana, Summer Classics, Telescope Casual Furniture and Three Birds Casual. Additional brands are expected to commit.
“The casual furniture collection is bringing brands to Atlanta that have never showed at AmericasMart before,” said Maricich. “It is a natural expansion of the discovery opportunities of our markets and in our open-year-round resources.”
In addition to ICFA’s buying events, the casual collection also will be open for the semiannual Atlanta Market (January and July), Spring Market at AmericasMart (March) and Fall Design Week (September) as well as special events for commercial/hospitality industry, buying groups, key accounts and more.
The location in AmericasMart Building 1 connects the casual furniture collection to 300+ home décor resources as well as 100+ holiday, floral and seasonal product resources. It also connects via sky bridge to AmericasMart Building 2 which offers 70+ gardens and outdoor living product resources, alongside thousands of gift and lifestyle resources on 18 floors.
“The addition of the casual furniture collection creates new synergies for buyers and amplifies the new business opportunities for exhibitors,” said Maricich. “The Southeast is home to more outdoor retail outlets than any other region in the U.S., making the market’s new home at AmericasMart an economic driver for buyers and suppliers alike.”
About International Market Centers: International Market Centers (IMC) serves as the center of commerce for the wholesale furniture, gift, home decor and apparel industries. With more than 20 million square feet of premium wholesale showroom space in High Point, N.C., Las Vegas and Atlanta, IMC has more than 60 years of relationships and experience creating scalable business platforms for wholesale commerce. With the launch of Juniper, a fully integrated omnichannel B2B commerce solution and multiline B2B e-commerce marketplace empowering buyers and sellers to better manage and grow their business at markets and year-round, IMC now provides the only omnichannel sales and marketing platform that seamlessly connects physical and digital wholesale commerce.
