June 14, 2011 - Marketplace Events, organizers of The National Home Show
and the Board of Directors of Canada Blooms: The Flower and Garden
Festival, have signed an agreement that will see the two powerhouse
events take place side by side beginning next year at the Direct Energy
Centre, creating the single largest home and garden experience in North
America.
“The idea for co-locating the events is a natural extension of our
audience interests,” explained Tom Baugh, CEO of Marketplace Events.
“Guests attending The National Home Show love the event but consistently
tell us they want to see bigger and better gardens and floral
displays. Guests attending Canada Blooms (virtually all homeowners)
love their garden festival and will be thrilled in seeing its growth in
stature under this new arrangement.”
“Putting these events side-by-side creates a situation where the whole
is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Gerry Ginsberg, General
Manager of Canada Blooms. “We strongly believe this co-location will
allow us to achieve a new standard of excellence and significantly
enhance the customer experience for hundreds of thousands of garden and
home enthusiasts throughout Ontario that visit these events each year.”
The agreement to co-locate is not a merger, nor is Marketplace Events
purchasing Canada Blooms. Each event will maintain its own identity and
operate separately, expanding into an impressive footprint of 600,000
square feet – Canada’s largest consumer event under one roof. Both
shows will run for ten days, from March 16 – 25, 2012, at the Direct
Energy Center in Toronto.
Canada Blooms, presented by The Home Depot, will create and expand their
feature gardens and floral displays, but in the larger Hall A of the
Direct Energy Centre. The Canada Blooms “Marketplace” will move into
Heritage Court. The National Home Show, presented by RE/MAX will occupy
the remainder of the exhibit space including Halls B, C, D, North
Extension (Hall H) and the Industry Building (Hall G), where the
innovative feature home will continue to be located, as well as the
previously unused East Annex (Hall F). Ricoh Coliseum may also be used
in future years as the two events expand.
The Marketplace Events team will sell all exhibit space within both
events, including the Canada Blooms “Marketplace” while the Canada
Blooms team will focus on creating the expanded feature gardens, garden
educational programs and floral displays. Sponsorship will continue to
be sold separately by each event although cross-over packages will be
available for those interested in partnering for both events.
As a convenience to consumers, a single ticket purchased for either
event will allow attendees to visit Canada Blooms, The National Home
Show or both events. A recent audience survey confirmed that 47 per cent
of respondents have attended both events in the past and 62 per cent
indicated that the opportunity to see both events for one ticket price
would make it more likely that they would attend. 41 per cent of
respondents said they would be likely to purchase a two-day pass. Based
on the survey results, two day passes and an all access pass, good all
days of the events, will also be sold.
“The survey results, combined with already intense exhibitor interest,
confirms the thinking by both groups that co-locating these events will
create an exciting dynamic experience for our guests, our exhibitors and
our respective organizations” said Baugh. “It’s a progressive move for
the betterment of the GTA’s horticultural community,” added Ginsberg,
“and a decision that will elevate the not-for-profit status of Canada
Blooms.”
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