The American Made Show, (formerly known as the Buyers Market of American Craft) was the nation’s largest wholesale
trade show
A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...
, providing US and Canadian professional studio artists a venue to build relationships with qualified retailers and wholesale
craft
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...
buyers. Founded by Wendy Rosen, the show featured approximately 1,500 artists exhibiting to meet more than 9,000 buyers from 8,000 companies from across the United States and Canada. Held biannually, Buyers Market exhibitors realized more than $42 million in sales each year. The Buyers Market was twice named one of the 50 Fastest-Growing Trade Shows in America by ''
Tradeshow Week'' magazine.
In October 2013, The Rosen Group announced that the Buyers Market of American Craft would be rebranded as the
American Made Show. In 2015 the American Made Show moved from the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia to the
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is a convention center located in Washington, D.C., owned and operated by the city's convention arm, Events DC. Designed in a joint venture by the Atlanta-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, ...
in the nation's capital. The move to Washington, DC was made not only to heighten the pride of domestically produced goods but also to benefit both exhibitors and buyers. The Washington, DC location was more convenient for buyers from the Smithsonian museum stores, national association buyers, art consultants and institutional specifiers looking for domestic and custom art products.
References
* https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/23/nyregion/crafts-wholesale-outlets-are-emerging.html
* https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-07-15-1994196107-story.html
* https://nfs.unl.edu/documents/SpecialtyForest/Brown%202.pdf
* https://artdaily.cc/news/3023/February-Buyers-Market-of-American-Craft-Opens
* https://americanmanufacturing.org/blog/entry/american-made-show-exhibits-quality-crafts
* https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1990-02-02-9001220462-story.html
External links
American Made Show NICHE Magazine/ Walter E. Washington Convention Center
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Handicrafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Crafts