For Immediate Release:

EMERALD’S ASD MARKET WEEK PREPARES TO STAGE THE WORLD’S LARGEST GENERAL MERCHANDISE WHOLESALE TRADE SHOW

 New Exhibit Halls, Expanded Educational Seminars, Networking Opportunities

and Free Access for 30,000+ Attendees Are Key Benefits

New York, NY (February 13, 2024) – Emerald’s Affordable Shopping Destination (ASD) Market Week is enhancing the world’s largest general merchandise wholesale trade show to bring greater value to both attendees and exhibitors at its upcoming event scheduled for March 10-13, 2024, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This includes new exhibit halls and a broader focus on product discovery, networking, and industry education with two seminar series offered to the more than 30,000 attendees expected at the show. Attendance at the four-day event, including access to all exhibit halls and educational seminars, is free for wholesale buyers who represent retailers, e-tailers, importers and distributors of all sizes and across a variety of store types.

“Because today’s consumers are increasingly focused on value, while demanding a wide variety of product choices, ASD Market Week is strategically focused on helping retailers meet the trending needs of their customers,” said Karalynn Sprouse, Emerald Executive Vice President. “Ours is the only event of this scale and scope where retailers can connect with such a large, diversified group of wholesale suppliers in one place to buy nearly all their inventory at the best prices possible. And the enhancements we’re making to our upcoming event will make the ASD experience better than ever for buyers and exhibitors alike.”

An Enhanced Wholesale Buying Experience

Attendees and exhibitors will benefit from these enhancements and features at ASD Market Week:

New Exhibit Halls: The trade show floor will now take place in the Las Vegas Convention Center Central, South Lower and South Upper Halls to accommodate more than 1,800 exhibitors offering more than one million unique products across 19 categories. A new floor plan was designed to maximize product discovery, cross-product category shopping, ensure a seamless on-site experience, and provide additional time-saving transportation options.

Buyer Navigation and Neighborhoods: To help buyers more easily navigate the numerous product categories within three exhibit halls, ASD Market Week trade show space will be organized into nine “neighborhoods” that will include an expanded beauty neighborhood that is 23% larger from March 2023 and featuring nearly 45 new exhibitors in this category offering fragrance, makeup, skincare, and more. Digital guides tailored for each neighborhood help connect buyers and exhibitors and provide tips on how to shop for products while fostering a more efficient onsite buying experience.

Enhanced Spaces & Show Floor Happenings: Each of the exhibit halls will feature expanded lounges that offer dedicated space to network, take a break, charge devices, and enjoy a variety of activities throughout the show such as a DIY hat bar, oxygen bar, cash bar, selfie photo station, and t-shirt screen printing. Additional benefits include free items for attendees from the ASD Swag Store, Louis Vuitton daily giveaways, complimentary headshots, exhibitor booth makeover prize/awards, the official ASD After Party at Tao Group’s Omnia Nightclub, and more.

Buying Groups: A variety of store types, including independent retailers, chain stores, ecommerce, convenience stores, and others, will be represented by some of the largest wholesale buying groups. These include: ALGO, dd’s Discount, Big Lots, Variety Stores, Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, pOpshelf, Association of Mail and Business Centers (AMBC), SouthWest Buying Group, and many others.

SourceDirect: Located within ASD Market Week, SourceDirect provides expanded opportunities for sourcing products from global suppliers and manufacturers including, China, India, France, South Korea, Turkey, and many more.

Private Label Opportunities: More than half of ASD attendees are interested in the value of private label products and ASD Market Week is one of the largest destinations for global private label merchandise offered by exhibitors throughout the show and across multiple product categories.

“These numerous enhancements we are making to ASD Market Week are intended to make this event even more beneficial for both buyers and exhibitors in terms of making connections and optimizing their wholesale commerce experience,” said Camille Candella, Emerald Group Vice President. “We have designed this show to foster a greater sense of community and collaboration while providing an unparalleled agenda of insightful educational sessions on a variety of trending topics to all who attend.”

Expanded Educational Focus

ASD Market Week will offer two separate onsite educational series in addition to the show’s ongoing podcast.

ASD Market Week Educational Series: Industry leaders such as Nice Find Wholesale, Retail Minded, Gild Creative Group, and Boutique Training Academy will be featured in this series to offer numerous daily sessions with valuable expert viewpoints and guidance on trending topics ranging from closeouts, liquidations, and ecommerce to digital marketing, logistics, and merchandising.

SourceDirect Educational Sessions: These sessions are dedicated to helping attendees learn about sourcing products internationally and optimize their experience while sourcing products and inventory onsite from the hundreds of global manufacturers and suppliers offering gift, home, toy, beauty, apparel, fashion accessories, private label, general merchandise, and more.

Let’s Talk a Little Shop Podcast: This ongoing podcast features multiple episodes with noted industry experts on the most important industry topics and trends that include the impact of AI on shaping digital retail marketing, creating successful brands, hiring trends, building successful live events, digital merchandising, and more.

Key educational sessions include:

• Jacqueline Snyder with The Product Boss and Tiffany Hardin from Gild Creative Group on creative content creation.
• Youtuber John Santos from Streetcrafter to learn how to launch a viral brand on a shoestring budget with the power of printing from home.
• Seth Marks with Big Lots on the evolution of retail space to surprise and delight customers.

For more information on exhibiting or attending ASD Market Week, please visit asdonline.com.

 About ASD Market Week:

ASD Market Week, also known as the Affordable Shopping Destination, is the largest and longest-running business-to-business general merchandise event in the United States, connecting wholesalers, retailers and distributors. Over four exciting days in Las Vegas, ASD Market Week offers the widest variety of consumer goods from Gift + Home to Souvenir and General Merchandise to Fashion + Beauty. In addition, buyers can shop at over 1,800 vendors offering more than one million new, on-trend, high-margin products across 19 retail categories to increase sales and profit for their business.

 About Emerald:

Emerald’s talented and experienced team grows our customers’ businesses 365 days a year through connections, content, and commerce. We expand connections that drive new business opportunities, product discovery, and relationships with over 140 annual events, matchmaking, and lead-gen services. We create content to ensure that our customers are on the cutting edge of their industries and are continually developing their skills. And we power commerce through efficient year-round buying and selling. We do all this by seamlessly integrating in-person and digital platforms and channels. Emerald is immersed in the industries we serve and committed to supporting the communities in which we operate. As true partners, we create experiences that inspire, amaze, and deliver breakthrough results. For more information, please visit www.emeraldx.com.

Media Contact:
Kenny Thomas
Kenny.thomas@emeraldx.com