International Market Centers (IMC) and GC Buying Group announced a new partnership to produce GCX: Expo & Education, a semi-annual buying and programming event connecting gourmet and housewares brands and retailers.
The event debuts at IMC’s Atlanta Market in July 2022. IMC and GC Buying Group plan to expand the event to be held at IMC’s Las Vegas Market beginning in 2023, according to a joint press release.
“GCX: Expo & Education will be a two-day opportunity for GC Buying Group members to be fully immersed in business-building product discovery and education,” said Janis Johnson, founder and president of GC
Buying Group. “The model that we have created with IMC is a win-win for buyers and sellers. It creates an opportunity for retailers to explore Atlanta Market in its entirety after their two-day GC focus and it provides GCX vendors with direct access both to GC retailers and to a broader Atlanta Market buying audience.”
GC plans to recruit brands, including established IMC exhibitors and new-to-market vendors, to exhibit in a one-day vendor display open to GC Buying Group members and market attendees. The inaugural Atlanta Market showcase, on Wednesday, July 13 (AmericasMart Building 2, Floor 3), is expected to feature more than 75 housewares and gourmet product vendors. Brands exhibiting in the GC Expo have the option to extend their participation in the Atlanta Market as exhibitors, within the temporary exhibits’
Gourmet and Housewares categories, through Monday, July 18, according to IMC.
Day two (July 14) of the July GC program in Atlanta will feature educational programming and product demonstrations exclusively for GC Buying Group members and non-members who purchase a membership before or during the event. Education subjects and presenters are to be announced in the coming weeks.
GC Buying Group and IMC on July 13 will co-host the housewares and gourmet floor party – open to all Atlanta Market participants in the Jura Demonstration Kitchen at AmericasMart Building 2, Floor 8.
In anticipation of the planned launch of GCX: Expo & Education at Las Vegas Market in 2023, GC Buying Group will present programming including a Sip & Shop party co-hosted with IMC in the Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.
“IMC’s gift and home markets in Atlanta and Las Vegas offer powerful regionally-based opportunities for housewares buyers and sellers to connect and share ideas and information about new and innovative products,” said Dorothy Belshaw, IMC executive vice president, chief marketing and customer officer. “Through this exciting partnership, IMC introduces new, GC-endorsed brands to buyers in Atlanta and Las Vegas and GC Buying Group establishes a unique opportunity to grow programming and membership. GC has presented a vendor showcase in Atlanta since 2005 and GCX is a natural extension and expansion of that highly successful model.”
