IWJG January 2013 Miami Show Report

How about that IWJG Miami January 2013 show!

This show was a record breaker in many ways. Instead of hype, let us just tell you what we heard from our members on the floor. Howard Bilford, Alberto Salinas, and Ira Mish all turned in good show reports. Gregg Esses, Richard Markowitz, and Pamela Benson (only her second show) had good shows. Ed Faber, Steve Fishman, and Marco Damm had good shows. Very good shows were reported by Viken Berghoudian, Paul Duggan, Gary Zumalt, Tommy Labret (very good selling show), Julio Canosa, and Jessica Schnaider. Adrian Kleiman, Eric Bonetta, Julian Sigler, Alfonso Valencia, and Bobby Arena all reported very good shows. Sunny Dowan, Matteo Monticone, and Natalio Saks reported in great shows, two thumbs up and better than very good. Very good shows were also reported by Wesley Hatakeyama of RK Wave of Beverly Hills, Alex Ciani, and Gabe Arik. Fred Hakimian and Bob Maron reported in with very, very good shows. Raymond Arnold reports, "I've had some great IWJG shows, but this might be my best ever." Peter Chou reports in, "Great show. I didn't see it coming. Great show." The final comment on Miami that we will use in this report comes from John Buckley, "My best show since 2007. Maybe my best ever."

We also spoke with a few members that found the show a little slow. We don't know what to say except, we had 1,300 members and guests in the room for the two days... that total equals Las Vegas May 2012 (a record setter for the IWJG)... Several members told us that the slightly higher prices made it possible to have a very good selling show... Others found a good value and bought their way into a succesful event. There was plenty of merchandise on the floor... There was a record number of exhibitors... A record number of buyers... and a record number of IWJG members turned in good show (or better) reports.

We never try to tell the IWJG membership how to conduct business (except for ethics). You are the best in the world. All we will say is, if a large percentage of attendees are having a good show and you are not... most likely the issue is your inventory or pricing.

Dealers pay good money to come into our show. They are not looking for excuses not to buy. They are always looking for opportunities to purchase quality merchandise at fair prices!!! We are off our soapbox.

We just want all of you to have good shows... We can't be successful until you are!!! Our number one job is to produce the best show possible for each of our members, and then to help you get the most out of every event. Help us help you.

Where did the 1,300 attendees come from? We had over 50 dealers from Asian countries. 120 attendees came from Europe, with over 50 coming from Italy and 40 from the UK, France and Germany. 60 dealers attended from South and Central America, and of course the USA dealers attended in strong numbers. The world's best watch and jewelry dealers were well represented in Miami.

We work as close as possible with as many of the other Watch and Jewelry trade shows as we can. Our efforts with the US Antique and Jewelry Show in Miami continue to be a success. We had many attendees from that show visit our show on Monday and Tuesday... the feedback was... they were impressed with our dealers, the quality and quantity of your inventories and your pricing... Several joined on the spot. We will not be surprised if January 2013 is a record new members month for the IWJG.

About the International Watch and Jewelry Guild (IWJG)
Since 1985, the IWJG has been conducting 12 to 14 annual cash and carry trade show events throughout the US. The members only shows are supported by over 8,200 of the world's foremost professional watch and jewelry dealers from 75 countries. The IWJG members and shows stake claim to hundreds of millions of dollars in watch and jewelry inventory. For general questions or information on becoming a member visit our website at www.iwjg.com or call us toll free at 800-554-4992. You can also visit us on Facebook at http://www.iwjg.net/facebook for more information or Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/iwjg.