“Retailers have turned off the snooze button.” That was the sentiment of one exhibitor at this year’s annual GlobalShop trade show, held February 29 to March 2, in Las Vegas. A variety of new products and design trends on display at this year’s show were ready to appeal to a reawakened design community.
This season, neon colors aren’t just for clothing as several booths, including CDW Merchants (Evanston, Ill.) and Holiday Foliage (San Diego), displayed a variety of visual propping aglow in fluorescent. Equally eye-catching was a showcase of metallics, from decorative display panels from Architectural Systems Inc. (New York) to Holiday Image’s (Moonachie, N.J.) disco-inspired curtains and motorized mosaic mirrored balls. Lamin-Art (Schaumburg, Ill.) presented a new collection of laminates, including Metal-Art with embossed patterns.
The natural look remains popular as seen in Symmetry’s (Chicago) Organic Silhouettes line for jewelry, fashion and accessories, which uses papier-mâché forms covered in natural fibers and ropes. Lifestyle/Trimco’s (New York) themed booth included eco-friendly birch poles, burlap boxes and wreaths, while VMR Forms (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) introduced a high-density foam form covered in white linen.
Inside the Store Fixture Show pavilion, the booths appeared to be smaller and less showy than in years past. Some booths also opted to show their consultative capabilities rather than actual products. For example, r3g/Robelan (Hempstead, N.Y.) was mostly a set of conference tables where visitors could hear about the company’s design and consulting expertise. One of the few exceptions was Lozier, which filled its large booth with upscale shelving systems in an array of colors and higher-end finishes.
Several manufacturers stood out with show-stopping booth designs. VMSD recognized five companies with Outstanding Booth Awards, as nominated by our Editorial Advisory Board members, including: Holiday Foliage (San Diego), Judith Von Hopf (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Visual Impulse Powered by Moss (Elk Grove Village, Ill.), CNL Mannequins (Los Angeles) and r3g/Robelan. Judges lauded those companies that could tell a story or offered the unexpected inside their spaces.