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As the world struggled to deal with the fallout of Covid-19, trade fair organisers were faced with an unprecedented situation causing cancellations, postponements and the move to a virtual platform.
hat a year it has been! Who would’ve thought a virus could cause such havoc and create a world that no one has seen or experienced before. Restrictions were implemented, new measures were taken to stop the spread and borders were closed to make sure the impact was contained. This meant trade fairs, both locally and overseas, were facing an uncertain future. When would borders reopen, how many people are allowed in a certain space, will social distancing be feasible? Unfortunately, for the Inspired Home Show in Chicago the quick spread of the virus early this year meant the organisers had no choice but to cancel the fair. While in February the decision was made to close the International Sourcing Expo, a Chinese pavilion to be run at the 16 giftguideonline.com.au
show, soon it became clear the Inspired Home Show couldn’t go ahead either. IHA president Derek Miller said at the time their primary concern was the safety and wellbeing of the home and housewares industry. “In the end, the global nature of our event, combined with the worldwide concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak and ongoing travel restrictions, make it impossible for us to hold The Inspired Home Show,” he said at the time. However, the organisers recently decided that March 2021 was not feasible either and so the IHA has moved the show to August 2021. Miller says moving the Chicago show to a later date is the best option in light of the current situation. “As the pandemic continued into the summer, we had multiple
conversations with our board of directors, exhibiting members and retail buyers, all of whom were experiencing apprehension about the ability to safely convene the industry as soon as March of 2021,” he explains. “While the show continues to be a critical part of their businesses, the health and safety of our industry is our first priority and moving the event to later in the year allows more time for authorities to successfully manage this crisis.” Shortly after the March 2020 cancellation of the Inspired Home Show, more trade fairs followed suit, either moving or cancelling their shows. NY NOW, which recently moved its August Summer edition to October, has decided to cancel the autumn edition and the colocated National Stationery Show, both scheduled for
18-20 October 2020 at the Jacob Javits Centre in New York. Recent developments including the ongoing progression of the virus in the US have made it impossible to bring buyers and brands together safely and successfully. “We are naturally disappointed not to have the opportunity to bring our community together face-to-face in New York City,” says Tim Hart, SVP, NY NOW. “However, we remain committed to finding ways to connect our brands, designers, makers and retailers with NY NOW’s hallmark spirit of discovery. “Our attention will now turn to NY NOW Winter 2021 and our digital offerings. Since March, we have been pleased to provide practical and relevant content to our community through our webinar and podcast program and have
seen some fantastic engagement.” Shoppe Object, an independent trade show for home and gifts and held around the same time as NY NOW, has also announced the cancellation of its October show in New York City and will now focus on its virtual event, Shoppe On, a year-round wholesale e-commerce platform, which launched on 24 August 2020. HKTDC, the organisers of Hong Kong Gifts & Premium, first moved the fair from April to July. In fact, they decided to have eight fairs at the same time under the Summer Sourcing Week umbrella. Unfortunately, with travel restrictions still in place and a compulsory 14-day quarantine of persons arriving in Hong Kong from overseas extended until 18 September, meant that overseas exhibitors and buyers would have