Top Ten Reasons The Chicago Market: Living and Giving is Your Market This Summer!

Top Ten Reasons The Chicago Market: Living and Giving is Your Market This Summer!

10. $10 Parking: As always, buyers can park for only $10 a day! Park in MartParc Wells (Kinzie St. and Wells St.), MartParc Orleans (Hubbard St. and Orleans St.) or Wolf Point (350 West Mart Center) parking lots. Parking is first-come, first-served, and vouchers may be picked up in Club Chicago (Suite 13-552) during Market hours.

9. Free Trolley Service: Get to the Merchandise Mart from your hotel for free! The Mart offers free trolley service to and from all of our participating downtown hotels, running every 10-15 minutes. All pick-ups and drop-offs take place on the South Drive (except on Monday, The Big Night, when it will move to the North Drive to make room for the party!).

8. Retail Tour: Join the retail experts from the Gift & Home Trade Association for a tour of local Chicago boutiques on Friday, July 20. Enjoy the best that Chicago Retailers have to offer while you have dinner and sip drinks on this trolley tour. The tour runs from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

7. Beckman’s on 7: The leader in handmade resources for more than 30 years, Beckman’s Handcrafted Gift Show returns to The Mart with an even bigger collection of contemporary and traditional handmade products. From eclectic to Victorian, Beckman’s offers a wide variety of styles that will set your store apart from the rest. Located on the 7^th floor, Beckman’s is the destination for unique products.

6. Expanded Showrooms: A& B Home, Country Sisters, Designs Combines, Inc., Direct Rug Imports, Kenneth Ludwig Home Furnishings, Max Bentley’s Rusty Blades, Melange, Melrose International, Michele S. Levitt & Associates, Sullivan’s, Yankee Candle debut their expanded showrooms this Market.

5. New Showrooms: Acme Display, Collins Painting & Design, Daniel Richards, DuPre Marketing, Russ Berrie, Saro Trading, Thompson Candles all join The Chicago Market: Living and Giving this July.

4. Signatures: Mingle with industry personalities and authors of best-selling titles at this special two-day event! Learn first-hand about new lifestyle trends and how to make them a part of your retail program. Jerome Pohlen, author of “Oddball Illinois”; Carlyn Berghoff, author of “The Berghoff Family Cookbook”; and Judith Fertig, author of “The BBQ Queens” will be there to autograph copies of their latest books.

3. Lake Living: Available only at The Chicago Market, Lake Living is back with even more resources to enhance buyers’ fresh-water retreats. Emphasizing a relaxed, inspired lifestyle, Lake Living is designed to reflect and appeal to the taste and style of Midwest buyers. Tour the beautiful Lake Living Home in the North Lobby and unwind in the Lake Living Lounge on the 8^th floor.

2. Market Square: Join us for the debut of Market Square, Friday, July 20, from 5-7 p.m. for an evening of cocktails and exploring all the beautiful resources for home. The newest design destination at The Merchandise Mart taps the growing demand for home accents and furnishings that bridge the fine retail and the luxury resources at the Design Center.

1. Big Night: Sing and dance the night away as our guest at an exclusive concert on Monday, July 23 with Super Diamond, the premier Neil Diamond tribute band, performing live and exclusively for Market attendees. The complimentary concert will run from 6-7:30 p.m. on the South Drive along the scenic Chicago River.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Claire Weingarden

Public Relations Manager

Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.

Phone: 312.527.7790

E-mail: cweingarden@mmart.com

Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI) is a trade show and property management firm, specializing in managing buildings devoted to wholesale showrooms and commercial office space. MMPI produces more than 300 trade shows, market events and conferences each year.

MMPI manages The Merchandise Mart and 350 West Mart Center in Chicago; Market Square, the Suites at Market Square, Hamilton Market, Plaza Suites, Furniture Plaza and the National Furniture Mart in High Point, N.C.; the Architects & Designers Building and 7 W New York in New York; the Boston Design Center in Boston; the L.A. Mart in Los Angeles; and the Washington Design Center and Federal Center Southwest in Washington D.C.

Vornado Realty Trust, owners of MMPI, based in New York City, is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust. Vornado’s common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and are traded under the symbol VNO.

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