The Las Vegas Winter 2024 was Fantastic on So Many Levels

Considering the current retail climate, we were uplifted by Market traffic, the energy and the industry camaraderie that encompassed our time in the SSA showroom. The traffic was improved over last January 2023 and significantly better than July. Buyers were engaged, ready and exhibitors WROTE ORDERS on the show floor. Add that to the number of important conversations started and follow-up opportunities because of them – and again – wow!

As per usual in C1565, vendor-to-retailer as well as vendor-to-vendor meetings were happening in every corner of the showroom. Dealmakers and CA$H FOR SCAN $50 winners filled the space. Our winners included:

Chris Odishaw from Battleford Furniture in Canada

Terri Long at Long's Bedding and Interiors in New York

Joe Sparks from Denver Mattress in Colorado

Jamie Perelman and Sharon Cook at SnooZZZ Mattress and More in CA

Fawad Zavery from Exclusive Furniture in Texas

Ryan Gordon from Transfer Master in Iowa

Darlene Kornelsen at Smitty's Furniture and Appliance in Canada

Jeremy Brown and Joel Summers from Mattress Today USA in Texas

C1565 showroom exhibitors share their Market experiences

·       Did your Market experience match expectations?
·       What about being in the SSA Sleep Pavilion?
·       What do you think would have made the experience better for you?

From Alexa Williams, Williams Co. Mattress

The Las Vegas Market has been a great experience for our team and for our business.
By engaging with others in the industry and meeting new customers, we’re able to continue refining our product development and making relationships. We find market to be a valuable part of our growth.
SSA is wonderful. Many of our customer relationships have formed by meeting in the SSA space. We benefit from the layout and having so many quality products and brands in one space, where networking and new introductions are encouraged by the group atmosphere.

From Brent Polunsky, W. Silver Products

This was a very positive market. I met many new dealers, and my current customers were very positive even though they weren’t sure what the rest of the year would bring us in regards to a positive or negative business environment.
I feel like the SSA Showroom had one its best markets in many years. The dealers I met during the market were positive and shopping with a purpose. They wanted to shop our showroom.

From Pascal Roberge, Beadoin

Our overall experience was better than expected. We worked hard at preparing our show and making sure we maximize our impact. The foot traffic was great and many exhibitors like us worked at driving traffic which helped everyone! Best of all, a good coffee with a fresh pretzel fuels us and the retailers!

Ryan Cleary, Healthguard

The show started a little slow on Sunday but by Monday, we were cooking! Lots of overflow customers walked by our HealthGuard booth and stopped long enough for us to “WOW” them with our assortment. In fact, one buyer in particularly, stopped by unannounced and now we are in discussions with them about partnering in 100+ store chain.
Being a part of the SSA has been a great experience, Tambra does a fantastic job of supporting the exhibitors while creating a fun environment for all.
What would I suggest? How about having a wine and cheese hour where buyers will be excited to show up and partake in a beverage or two. Perhaps add the violinist that played for 2 hours while taking requests.

Lara Smith, SOME` Sleep

Our experience was better than expected. Great qualified traffic, professional atmosphere and great snacks and comradery. Being in the SSA showroom was also better than expected because SSA ads a level of legitimacy to our brand. The only drawback is the sometime close proximity of our biggest competitors…

Phil Kraus, Electropedic Sleep Products

The overall experience was good, with traffic close to pre-Covid levels. We saw mainly existing customers but missed seeing new customers interested in the latest products. There were not many east coast customers visiting my space so for next Market, I’ll mail the east coast and mid-west attendees a letter and brochure inviting them to the space. Hopefully, I will become a destination for the buyer to visit. The attendee list can be a valuable tool to alert new buyers to visit me.

Stason Strong, SONU Sleep

It was truly a pleasure exhibiting with SSA again this year. Tambra and her team are extremely professional, efficient and an absolute joy to work with. This was our second show with SSA and we’ll be returning. The showroom, individual exhibits, common places and rapport of the other exhibitors all make it an ideal environment to bring in new customers and have successful meetings. The people and businesses we've met through the show have opened doors and provided excellent opportunities, for which we have SSA to thank.

Jack DeBonis, Simply Solid Bedrooms

Our experience was better than expected. We were shopped by many majors such as Sinomax, Nest Bed, Carpenter Foam, American Home Furnishings, etc.
We could not have shown at all except for SSA. I view SSA as an incubator for emerging suppliers. As a new entry into a crowded market, SSA was a great solution because everyone of consequence shops SSA. While we had a great market, next time we’ll do more marketing to encourage more buyers to see us.

Arin Schultz, Naturepedic

Great show as always. Every show we keep coming to gets better and better. We picked up a lot of accounts this year.

Nolan Sheeran, HUSH

The experience went even better than expected. We made a lot of new connections and it looks like plenty of business will come from it as well. Having only been to High Point previously, this was drastically better suited for our company.
The SSA showroom was great with a lot of impressive companies in one area – and we gained experience by seeing the other booths as well. The first 3 days or so were extremely busy for us. High traffic is all you can ask for. On our end we’ll look to schedule even more meetings at future shows. Getting those appointments booked before the show is crucial.

Butch Craig, Sleep and Beyond

Sleep & Beyond is delighted to be a member and exhibitor with the SSA since 2011. The result of the January 2024 Winter Market was our strongest Market in 12 yrs. Our mission is to create an inspirational, sustainable and educational system that will benefit without harm. Being with the SSA is part of how we do that. Just remember the motto, 80% of success is showing up, and 20% follow up. Thanks to Tambra and for everyone that is part of the SSA family.

Rick Wheeler, ZG Bed

The experience was better than expected. Being with Tambra and her team was so much fun. Tambra has built the SSA organization and I could not imagine having such quality support and years' experience devoted to helping people like me. Trying to introduce new products into a complicated industry is hard.
The SSA is the best thing any new or emerging company could wish for. We were so busy before the show, we did not take the time to make a good presentation in our booth. Tambra gave great suggestions to make the next show more impactful to visitors and we are excited to do even better next time.

Cliff Levin, Furniture For Life Massage Chairs

We met the key buyers we hoped to meet, and we were happy with traffic passing through the SSA space. What would make it better? I would have liked to use the member area for meetings but the tables were usually full. Overall, the showroom was excellent.

Paul Kahl, I Love Pillow / I Love Mattress

Thank you and your team for taking care of us! I would have to say my experience was better than expected. To have almost 500 people come through was a solid number of potential clients.
I loved the $50 for every 50th guest. What a clever idea! I think I was in the background of every picture photobombing.
I have a suggestion – what if all the vendors specified show specials ahead of time? The SSA could share the list with the potential customers prior to Market.

Jaffer Mohammed, Turmerry Organic Beds and Bedding

We did not expect much as it was our first show but were glad to have met many store owners, suppliers, competitors and other industry veterans. Time went by very fast and had a wonderful experience. Next market we will invest more in preparation and arrive a day earlier to be fully set up on time.

Greg Fowler, Monarch Sleep Systems

Overall, Monarch had good participation with customers interested in new innovations for sleep. Even in a town with no clocks everyone appreciates a great night’s sleep to recharge. Several new connections were made for business growth in 2024. Multiple small and medium sized retailers were very engaging, looking for great products that are locally available. The adjustable frame product lines at Monarch are designed to provide retailers scalable solutions for their consumers seeking simple style to intelligent ergonomics. The SSA showroom provides Monarch an intimate setting to present Product Innovations in Sleep Levitation. Stay tuned as Sensational Sleep is coming next...be prepared for the ultimate experience in rest and recovery.
I’d like to suggest that the SSA showroom arrange focus group-like events to showcase supplier products or innovations.

Carey Arason, Arason Enterprises

I think the show was slower than expected but we didn’t have any appointments set up and for that I take responsibility. We have 3 potential new stores from the show but nothing concrete yet. The SSA showroom is fun with a diverse group of innovators. I’d like to suggest some background music …nothing crazy just something to break the silence for when its slow.

Harry Goodman, Boccuzzi Group

The market was much better than expected with great traffic and customers looking for new merchandise. The SSA showroom attracts a huge number of buyers who want to see what’s new.

Adam Fain, Cariloha

Our experience was better than expected with more buyers walking the space when compared to previous markets and the SSA was hopping. Because retailers are seeing what our company has done in the past (marketing, conducting on site video shoots and interviews, ads in trade magazines) I would say foot traffic was double in SSA, or at least it seemed to be with the higher level of interest from buyers.

Paul Murphy, Holme Valley / Aspire

We were very excited about exhibiting at the market. As it was our first time we tried to maintain realistic expectations, however the market went really well for us. We had plenty of interaction with customers and got a lot of mostly positive feedback. Our UK hand crafted, natural mattress story was well received but when customer's learned the product was rolled and that the price points were genuinely affordable we got a great reaction. We are now in talks with a few large retailers and a few distributors and potential partners, plus we have a bunch of smaller companies interested in buying our product once stock is on the ground which will be in time for July market.
I think a big part of our success was down to being in the SSA showroom which brought us traffic that we would have never seen as first time exhibitors on our own. It was also fantastic to spend time with the other exhibitors in the showroom, everybody was really friendly and shared great advice with us. I don't think we could have realized this benefit in ay other place and we genuinely feel very grateful and privileged to have this opportunity with the SSA.

Jody Folino, Blue Ridge Home Fashions

Our team had a much better experience that last market. I felt that we had better “drop in” meetings with quality opportunities. Additionally, we had more “key buyer” meetings. Finally, the showroom area is very organized including coffee and snacks throughout the day. Again, a quality experience.

Adam Teller and Colin Riggs, Sleeptone

The LV Market was as expected but our experience with the SSA was certainly better than expected. I was impressed by the amount of top 100 retailers the SSA showroom was able to draw in. We actually wrote an order onsite with a top 100 store. We are satisfied with the results and we look forward to showing again in the SSA showroom for Summer Market.