Attendance figures for New York's International Vision Expo East (March 27-29) were down 12 per cent, but organiser Reed Exhibitions pointed out that feedback from attendees and exhibitors at the show was positive in spite of the economy.
Tom Loughran, event director, said that smarter shopping on the redesigned show floor reflected the quality of visitors, who were there to buy, not just browse. Third-party audited figures for the exhibition at the Jacob K Javits Center will be available six weeks after the show. 'It is notable that International Vision Expos are the only optical events to continually audit their attendance despite the up and down swings in the economy,' he said.
A first-time exhibitor at the show was TD Tom Davies whose operations director Alistair Burroughs reported good momentum with the introduction of a simplified version of the company's Bespoke line in 'Tailored'.
Jason Kirk of Kirk Originals described Vision Expo East as an international event and was pleased with the response to his luxury Turbo line, while Robert Morris of William Morris Eyewear said the low pound against the dollar was helping with sell through, adding that it was 'crucial to be seen here'.
Next year's show will be held from March 19-21 at the same venue and International Vision Expo East has confirmed show dates at Jacob K Javits through to 2012 and will continue to hold the event each year in the March/April timeframe.