Retail Interiors Expo, May 17 -18, 2006, Chicago

A new industry trade show, Retail Interiors Expo, has been announced for May 17 -18, 2006 at 5-6, 2006, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.

Producing the new event, in a joint venture with ST Media Group Intl. (Cincinnati), is Exponation (Atlanta), headed by Angelo Varrone who, as ceo of Shore-Varrone Inc., was part of the team that launched The Store Fixturing Show in Chicago in 1993, the event that ultimately became GlobalShop.

Also active in this new event are Russ Eisenhardt, Jeanne Phillips, Craig Henderson and Brenda Keys, all of whom were part of the GlobalShop team in the 1990s.

VM+SD magazine will be the exclusive media sponsor for the event.

Exponation reports that 20 founding partners, all major industry vendors, have already signed up as exhibitors.

“The industry demands an event that is more customer-driven than what is currently available,” said Varrone. “One that is better suited for today’s marketplace, offering attendees and exhibitors a more intimate environment in which to do business.”

According to Varrone, the new event will be: intimate: allowing exhibitors and attendees to connect and establish close business relationships; focused: there will be two distinct pavilions — store fixtures and visual merchandising; better-located: Chicago is within 400 miles of 30 percent of all U.S retail headquarters; and more affordable: with lower exhibit rental costs.

“With the help of and powerful reputation behind VM+SD,” Varrone says, “we’ll deliver a world-class conference with educational programs designed to draw your best customers and prospects to this new and exciting event.

“In addition, we’ll create other special events that will help retailers get more out of their visit to Retail Interiors Expo.”

For information, contact Craig Henderson, 770-649-0300, ext. 15, or Jeanne Phillips, 770-649-0300, ext. 16, or write to Exponation at 1405 Old Alabama Rd. Suite 120, Roswell, Ga. 30076.