ATLANTA–Urban Expositions has announced that it will acquire the San Francisco International Gift Fair and the Seattle Gift Show from dmg world media and the transition will take place following the August 2009 editions of the semi-annual shows. This follows dmg’s sale of the LA California Gift Show to Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. two months ago. Dmg’s GLM division plans to continue running The Gourmet Housewares Show in conjunction with the San Francisco International Gift Fair, dmg said.
“We have been looking for growth opportunities in the western U.S. for some time now and felt that the San Francisco and Seattle shows offered the perfect complement to our show roster,” said Doug Miller, president, Urban Expositions.
“Urban Expositions is ideally suited to take over the management of the San Francisco and Seattle shows,” said Alan Steel, executive vice president, business-to-retail, dmg world media, which sold its Boston Gift Show to Urban Expositions in 2008. “Urban’s leadership has a strong understanding of the specialized needs of these events, their buyers and exhibitors, and we know they will bring continued success to the shows in years to come.”
Urban Expositions also owns the Las Vegas Souvenir Resort Gift Show and new Los Angeles editions of the Material World Technology Solutions textiles shows.