They say you can’t go home again, but apparently Dorothy Belshaw never got that memo.

With partners and fellow Andmore alumni William Lacey and Karen Olson, the veteran show management executive has acquired NY Now—the onetime powerhouse of the Northeast trade show circuit that has more recently fallen on hard times—from Emerald Holding. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by Belshaw or her new company, Rockview Management Group, and Emerald did not respond to a request for comment.

For Belshaw, it’s a homecoming: She ran NY Now’s predecessor, the New York International Gift Fair, for nearly half of her 20-year run at its then-organizer, GLM (fittingly, Belshaw even came up with the name “NY Now”). She left to join International Market Centers, now named Andmore, where she built out its gift and home decor segment and later rose to president in charge of its shows in Atlanta, Las Vegas, New York, and High Point, North Carolina. Belshaw said she explored a number of scenarios after her time with Andmore ended in February, but the opportunity to come back to New York and lead the effort to resurrect the show she helped build was too good to pass up. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to do this and partner with all these people,” she tells Business of Home. “I know we can make a big difference.”

Her mission is clear: to return the show to its position as a cornerstone of the New York and Northeast gift and home marketplace. It will be no easy task.

Hit hard by Covid and multiple changes in ownership and management, the biannual show had been reduced to barely 25 percent of the exhibitors it fielded at its peak in the early 2010s, with Shoppe Object and regional shows in Atlanta and Dallas gaining market share.

Born and raised in the city, Belshaw believes the show’s location at the Javits Center in Manhattan is key to its resurgence. “The tristate area and the entire Middle Atlantic region is retail-rich, and there’s a big need for a market here. But the New York piece is also an incredible positive—there’s nothing like New York,” she says, pointing out that the local retail scene, museums, restaurants and attractions always served as a backdrop for the century-old show, giving retailers added motivation to attend.

When the idea first came across her desk, she initially wasn’t interested. “I’m not an entrepreneur. I was used to a corporate structure,” she says. “Buying the show was out of my wheelhouse.” Yet the more she thought about it, the more she realized rebuilding NY Now would require the agility and small business culture that this deal made possible.

Taking over mid-cycle means the summer market (August 2 to 4) will likely carry on as expected, although some organizational adjustments should result in a more condensed layout intended to energize the show floor. Belshaw says the initial reaction from the trade community suggests the event might be somewhat bigger than its most recent iterations.

More significant changes will come down the road, but for the moment, Rockview is targeting several product areas where there are opportunities for more exhibitors: tabletop, handmades, paper and stationery; lifestyle categories like personal accessories; and home decor. Brands and rep agencies alike are on Belshaw’s hit list in her search for new booths as well as expansions of existing ones. It’s no question that more exhibitors will attract more buyers and attendees, but she admitted it’s a chicken-and-egg situation: “It’s a partnership.”

She also expects to have a relationship with Shoppe Object, which has grown to almost the size of NY Now after siphoning off many of its key exhibitors. (When at IMC, Belshaw headed up the former’s acquisition four years ago.) “We want to collaborate, not compete, with Shoppe,” she says. “Both shows need each other to be successful.”

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Warren Shoulberg is the former editor in chief for several leading B2B publications. He has been a guest lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; received honors from the International Furnishings and Design Association and the Fashion Institute of Technology; and been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media as a leading industry expert. His Retail Watch columns offer deep industry insights on major markets and product categories.