Last summer, AmericasMart Atlanta announced it would be redesigning Floor 5 of Building 1, dedicating it to commercial and hospitality showrooms. The floor is now open, and it includes a lounge specifically for designers. Here’s what you need to know.
Diversifying Assets
AmericasMart officially cut the ribbon on the Commercial Design floor at a party in late August. “A launch like this gives us an entrée to a new channel of distribution,” explains Jenny Heinzen York, Vice President of Home at AmericasMart, “a strategy that will pay dividends for the companies on the floor, obviously, but also for other exhibitors in the building who make and sell products suitable for hotel, restaurant, senior living and other commercial-type installations.”
Designers in Mind
The new Commercial Design floor will also house a workspace for the American Society of Interior Designer’s (ASID) Georgia chapter and the Commercial Design Lounge, both of which will provide spaces for designers to meet and work. “As many designers bridge between residential and commercial work,” York says, “we are confident that this floor will go a long way to exposing them to the exciting products in the commercial world that they wouldn’t typically see at market.”
Growing New Business
For manufacturers on the floor, the opportunity was a win-win. AmericasMart sits close to the over 1,000 commercial design and architecture firms in the Atlanta metro area. It also doesn’t hurt to have interior designers right down the hall. “We know many residential designers visit the Mart on a daily basis,” says David Gunter at Stover, just one of the new showrooms now open, “and we felt we needed to have the exposure for our company.”
On the Floor
• 40 lines already opened carrying bath fixtures and vanities; commercial-grade office seating and conference tables; fixed-wire lighting; contract-grade outdoor furnishings; rugs and more.
• ASID Georgia chapter headquarters and workspace.
• Commercial Design Lounge, presented by AmericasMart in partnership with ASID, International Interior Design Association and The Network of Executive Women in Hospitality, which provides a space for ASID members to work with clients, source materials and hold meetings.
• Open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
