Preview: The NADI Show

For decades, this industry observed the coming of Christmas by gathering in New York for the NADI winter market. Though the event has continued under a variety of names, it hadn’t been the NADI show since the late 1990s. Now, NADI is back.

The National Association of Display Industries will be putting on this year’s show, to be held December 5-7 in a variety of venues. VM+SD is the show’s media sponsor and publisher of the official NADI Show Guide.

“New York is so magical during this time of year,” says NADI president Robert Rosean. “The NADI Show will reflect that excitement and creativity. All our participants will inspire designers with their presentations and move away from the traditional trade show milieu.”

More than 30 companies are participating, either through presentations at their New York showrooms or as sponsors of a NADI Theater event. Companies involved include: Adel Rootstein Mannequins, Alpha Display, ALU, Architectural Systems, B&N Industries, Bernstein Display, DK Display Corp., Elevations Inc., Fusion Specialties Inc., Goldsmith, Hera Lighting, Holiday Foliage, JP Metal America Inc., Leo Prager, Lifestyle, Look, Mondo Mannequins/Sellutions® by Econoco, Patina-V, Ralph Pucci, Rose Displays, Trimco, Universal Display & Design and Visual Merchandising Intl.

Many of the same showrooms will be open from years past, on West 25th Street and in the Chelsea environs. And there will be some new, temporary showroom locations, many of them in the Starrett-Lehigh Building on West 26th Street. But there will be no trade show, either at the Javits Center or the Passenger Ship Terminal. Instead, the centerpiece for this year’s show will be the Cedar Lake Theater on West 26th Street. That venue will house the NADI Theater, which will host educational and networking events; offer product displays from some participating companies; and serve as a central gathering spot for show attendees.

The theater will also be the site of the final NADI “Shoptalk” panel discussions for this year. During the first session, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 5, McCann Erickson’s Tom Julian will moderate a discussion on the “greening” of the fashion and visual merchandising worlds. Julian is senior vp and senior strategic director, trends, at the New York-based ad agency.

The second session, held from 9 to 11 a.m. on Thursday, December 6, will feature a presentation by two executives from Stylesight.com on tomorrow’s hottest fashion design trends. Slated to speak are Larry Nipon, Stylesight president, and Merrill Greene, vp/creative director at the trends-forecasting firm. (Pre-registration is required for both Shoptalk sessions. To do so, go to www. nadi-global.com/shoptalk_2007.htm.)

Another event on tap during the show is The PAVE Gala. The annual fund-raising banquet for the Planning and Visual Education Partnership (now administered by the National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers) will take place December 5, from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Madison Avenue and 53rd Street. Among the highlights, VM+SD will honor the winners of its second annual Excellence in Visual Merchandising and Design in New York awards. (The 2006 winners were Chanel, Oilily and Anthropologie.) PAVE will also present its first “Rising Star” award to a young leader in our industry. For more information on the gala, go to www.paveinfo.org.

In addition, NADI will sponsor an “Art Walk through West Chelsea” and a silent art auction to benefit ACRIA (AIDS Community Research Initiative of America) from 5 to 7 p.m. on December 6. To RSVP for this event, go to: rsvp@abenyc.com.

For more information and to register, go to www.thenadishow.com.

For highlights of products being displayed by some of the participating companies at their New York showrooms or at the Cedar Lake Theater, click here.