NeoCon A Sign of the Times
Attendance at NeoCon World Trade Fair — held this week at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago — was down from usual, which was not a surprise to the thousands of manufacturers who participated in the annual commercial furniture/furnishings exhibition. In a normal year, Mart officials estimate that around 50,000 people come to town for NeoCon. Having attended NeoCon since 1982, my guess is that more like 25,000-35,000 attended this year.
The manufacturers I spoke with at the show seemed to accept this reality, blaming it on the economy, but putting forth the best effort they could to showcase their latest products. There were the usual freebies — environmentally-friendly bags, stuffed animals, note pads — and the usual cocktail parties, although very few offsite events other than ones sponsored by professional associations.
Attendees I spoke with actually liked that the halls and elevators were less crowded. Although the focus of NeoCon tends to be office furniture, there is plenty of healthcare products to be seen. This is especially true when the economy is bad — all of the sudden, it seems everyone wants to be in healthcare.
Here are the healthcare products that were judged to be Best of NeoCon:
Arc-Com: Midori Collection (fabrics)
CF Stinson: Agion Collection (fabrics)
Cabot Wrenn: Graduation Push Back Recliner
Humanscale: T6 Point-of-Care Technology Cart
MechoShade Systems: EcoVeil Naturals Shadecloth Series
Peter Pepper Products: Health First - Infection Control Centers
Skyline Design: Botanica (architectural glass)
Wieland Healthcare: Versant Glider
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I heard that there were 23,000 people this year compared to a peak of 60,000.
Henry