Last night, New York City’s celebrated Museum of Arts and Design was the ideal setting for the world preview of select home furnishings that will be unveiled at the Fall Las Vegas Market, Sept. 14 – 17, the premier showcase for the home furnishings industry in North America. The sublime venue was a perfect backdrop to nearly 20 design-inspired pieces covering a broad cross section of home furnishings—representing just a glimpse of the more than 10,000 first-to-market pieces to be introduced in Las Vegas next month.

A World Market Center Las Vegas first, the New York event was attended by more than 150 leading magazine and newspaper editors, broadcast producers and top designers. Juried selections at this pre-market event included new pieces by AF Lighting, Blissliving Home, Bronze Age, Camerin USA, Christopher Guy, Colombostile, Creative Accents, Creative Elegance, David Marshall, Ethan Allen, French Heritage, John Kelly Furniture, Larry Laslo, Levels of Discovery, Nourison, Paragon, The Phillips Collection, Robert Allen, Rowe Fine Furniture, and Simply Amish.

“The museum was an exquisite venue for this inaugural event—a setting where craftsmanship, design and creativity are celebrated. We’re delighted that we had such incredible product to debut by top manufacturers and designers. These new-to-market pieces were truly elevated to art alongside the exhibition,” said Robert Maricich, President and CEO of World Market Center Las Vegas. “This spectacular event was a first for World Market Center and its partners, designed to give the press just a taste of the tens of thousands of new products and lines that will be introduced at September Market.”

“This was the perfect venue because the products looked so at home in the galleries,” said Metropolitan Home magazine editor Arlene Hirst.

“Using the Museum of Art and Design as a venue to display these various new products was quite fresh for the home furnishings industry, especially by presenting and integrating our exhibits within the fabric of the museum’s artistic pieces. It was truly creative,” said Stefanie Lucas President and CEO of Rowe Fine Furniture which unveiled new pieces fashioned by renowned designer Vivienne Tam.

At the event Maricich also shared World Market Center’s plans to invest an unprecedented $20 million dollars to unite and energize the home furnishings industry with the "Is it Home yet?TM" campaign. Designed to position home furnishings as a needed and desired enhancement to the family’s home and lifestyle, not a luxury, the campaign will simultaneously ignite consumer interest and increase retail traffic and sales.

The inaugural September Las Vegas Market at World Market Center Las Vegas will be a major defining event in which an unprecedented amount of new product introductions will be featured—more so than any previous Market.

In a recent survey of exhibitors conducted among World Market Center’s 1,500 plus exhibiting companies, 94 percent of the respondents said they are going to launch new product during the September Market, most of which will be products unveiled for the first time at any market. And nearly 78 percent will have product available for immediate shipment.

Furthermore, World Market Center will have a number of new resources for buyers who come to Las Vegas Market specifically looking for new product. Included is the First Look: Las Vegas new product showcase and breakfast. First Look gives buyers two ways to experience all the new products and collections that will be unveiled at Las Vegas Market. First, it’s a products and trends presentation that kicks off the show on Monday, Sept. 14 at 8:30 a.m. in WorldView, Building B, 16th floor. In addition, attendees will receive a copy of the First Look products and trend tracker, which is intended to whet retailers’ and interior designers’ appetites and guide their shopping at the show. Products and trends editor and President of Nine Muses Media Julie M. Smith will present the trends and new products at the breakfast.

The Fall 2009 Las Vegas Market is scheduled for September 14 - 17, 2009 at World Market Center Las Vegas. Attendees can register and reserve discounted rooms online now at www.LasVegasMarket.com.

About World Market Center Las Vegas

World Market Center Las Vegas is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and trade complex. The state-of-the-art campus showcases furniture, decorative accessories, gift, lighting, area rugs, home textiles and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC), now open daily to consumers and designers. World Market Center currently hosts the preeminent Las Vegas MarketSM biannually in February and September. And in February 2010 World Market Center will debut InspireDesignTM for manufacturers and companies serving the hospitality design marketplace. The Gift + HomeTM show launches in June 2010, catering to the gift, decorative accessory and seasonal industries. For more information on World Market Center Las Vegas, visit www.LasVegasMarket.com. Find us on Facebook and Twitter.