Randy Wells

Each month, LuxeLV profiles a member of The Luxury Marketing Council. This month we chat with Randy Wells,Vice President of Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center Las Vegas.

Wells focuses on management of the Center, a year-round, professional design and hospitality resource comprising approximately 50 open daily showrooms that feature fine furniture, fabric, lighting, accessories, rugs and wall décor. Mr. Wells has dynamic, broad-based experience in business development and a proven record in business growth, strategic planning, brand building, distribution channel development and product design and development.

Most recently, Mr. Wells served as president of Valtekz Composite Fabrics, a newly-formed decorative fabrics division of Valley Forge Fabrics. He established distribution for the new line through some of the most prestigious multi-line showrooms in the country’s major design centers.  The work Mr. Wells did for Valtekz provided him a unique opportunity to develop a working knowledge of all the design community’s stakeholders. Prior to his role at Valtekz, Mr. Wells managed the Century Leisure Division of Century Furniture, where he oversaw product design, development, pricing and sales.

LuxeLV: Brief background on yourself…how did you get into this business…how did you land at the LVDC?

Wells: I came to Las Vegas Design Center by way of Bob Maricich our CEO at World Market Las Vegas, who I was very fortunate to have worked for at Century Furniture.

LuxeLV: Background on WMC/LVDC… what’s the mission and purpose?

Wells: The mission of LVDC is twofold:
1.    Establish LVDC as the premiere home furnishings and design resource in this part of the world.
2.    Create an entirely new business model for design centers; one that is built around the architecture and design community while also fully embracing the consumer. We are working very hard to create an exceptional place for consumers to learn about the value and accessibility of great design, connect with an interior designer or shop with their own designer and really create the home of their dreams.

LuxeLV: Number of showrooms?

Wells: Roughly speaking, LVDC is a fifty showroom, 325K square foot design center.

LuxeLV: Can you give us an overview of annual activity and events?

Wells:

• We have our First Friday events, which are geared toward the A & D community.  We’ll have those every month for the rest of this year except for July.
• We have our semiannual Las Vegas Market home furnishings events, which are trade-only. These shows comprise the two weeks of the year that we are not open to the public.
• The Fall Market this year is August 2 – 6. Within that event there are two shows; Gift + Home and Vegas Kids which target the home accessory and gift and juvenile markets respectively.
• The Winter 2011 Market takes place January 24 – 28. Within that event is our InspireDesign show, which targets the FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) segment of the hospitality industry.
• We host an annual Design Professionals Holiday Gala each December.
• Throughout the course of each year we host special events for both consumers and the A & D community.  A schedule of these events can be found at www.lvdesigncenter.com.

LuxeLV: What is the Relationship between WMC and LVDC?

Wells: LVDC is essentially World Market Center’s face to the Las Vegas community; the portion of the business that is open year-round to the public (excepting the weeks of our semiannual Las Vegas Market home furnishings event).

LuxeLV: How/when will the industry climb out of the current doldrums?

Wells: I think it’s safe to say that most in our industry are indirectly, if not directly, connected to the housing and credit markets and employment rates and we definitely need to see improvement there. While I am in hopes we’ll look back on 2010 as having been a better year than 2009, what I’m seeing right now leads me to believe that the majority of the year will look a lot like a less erratic version of 2009.  As of late, consumer spending is on the rise and that certainly bodes well for our industry. We are also seeing much more stability in the marketplace and we are seeing a lot more in the way of businesses gearing up for the turn of the tide.

LuxeLV: The future of the WMC/LVDC…What will it look like? How will you get there (strategies)?

Wells: From the LVDC perspective, we are continuing to execute our strategy of creating a new business model for design centers; one that is both designer facing and consumer embracing.

LuxeLV: Will it ever put High Point out of business?

Wells: LVDC represents a completely different business altogether from High Point as well as most Design Centers. World Market Center Las Vegas really is an entirely different business model as well.  The thing that sets WMCLV apart is that we’ve built our business from the ground up utilizing a multi-platform strategy that’s designed to expand our customers’ horizons and their profitability. We seek not only to help them reach more members of their current target audience but also to help them to reach new channels of distribution both in the United States and abroad. The mission of our events is to deliver a shopping experience that is equal parts extraordinary and efficient. Each one is built around the three main reasons that buyers attend a tradeshow: To see what’s new, to network and to have fun.  What better place for that than Las Vegas?  What happens elsewhere really isn’t part and parcel to the equation.

LuxeLV: How does it tie into the city’s visitor strategy (gaming, food, retail, entertainment)?

Wells: Our semiannual Las Vegas Market creates a draw of 100,000 professionals from the home furnishings industry for ten days each year.  That equates to a non-gaming economic impact of approximately $200M.

LuxeLV: Biggest opportunity going forward?

Wells: In the Las Vegas marketplace, I believe there is a real opportunity with the interior design and furnishing of the homes and condominiums that are being snapped up.  There are staggering numbers of homes in our area being purchased by both home owners and savvy, well-heeled investors who realize the unbelievable values in our marketplace.  Now is the time to bring this customer into the fold and educate them on what our industry has to offer.

LuxeLV: Biggest challenge going forward?

Wells: With the interior design industry, business as usual would be my biggest concern.  I believe that the lack of transparency and the confusion surrounding price has been the biggest barrier to success our industry has faced over the past ten years. I believe that there are legions of potential design customers in every marketplace who are held back by a fear of being overcharged and a general lack of understanding of what a great designer can bring to their home and the potential for that designer to actually save them time, money and mistakes.

LuxeLV: Retail strategy vs. trade–only strategy?

Wells: I don’t think it has to be one or the other.

From Las Vegas, the city that invented exceptional, comes Las Vegas Design Center. Part of the World Market Center Las Vegas, the industry’s most dynamic trade marketplace dedicated to home furnishings and design, Las Vegas Design Center is the single most innovative facility of its kind. Home to more than fifty showrooms, it offers year-round access to a global selection of the industry’s finest home furnishings, fabrics, lighting, floor coverings, wall décor and accessories.

Visitors to Las Vegas Design Center benefit not only from its unparalleled collection of showrooms, but also from its convenient layout, sophisticated educational programming and commitment to exceptional service. Serving home, commercial and hospitality design professionals, as well as members of the general public through its new Design Salon, Las Vegas Design Center offers a comprehensive array of resources for the most discriminating audiences. Experience Las Vegas Design Center, and discover the value of exceptional design.

Las Vegas Design Center is located within World Market Center Las Vegas, the renowned trade marketplace for the home furnishings and design industry and home to the bi-annual Las Vegas Market home furnishings tradeshow. LVDC is just minutes from the Strip, Downtown resort corridor and McCarran International Airport.