Attendance down 9% at CBA's big show Print
Thursday, 13 July 2006 08:00 PM America/New_York

Attendance dropped at CBA's major annual trade show for the third successive year. Attendance was down 9% across the board by the close of the 2006 International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) in Denver yesterday.

By the end of the five-day event at the Colorado Convention Center, 9,133 people had registered attendance, down from last year's 9,986 who turned out at the same venue-in turn almost 1,000 down on the 2004 total in Atlanta, where the show will return next year.

Professional attendance-registrants excluding exhibitors and youth-this year was 2,750, down from 3,021 last year. Exhibitor personnel totaled 6,145, a decrease on 2005's 6,679. International attendance dropped from 851 visitors from 58 countries to 734 from 52 countries.

CBA President Bill Anderson attributed part of this year's dip to hosting the event in the same city for a second successive year and “the economic realities in our industry.” He said he anticipated a significant increase in attendance next year when ICRS is held in Atlanta, closer to home for most CBA members.

Anderson told Christian Retailing yesterday: “Attendance is down and spirit is up. I would rather be up, just like any retailer. The good news is that we are not down more.” The mood of the show was “more optimistic and buoyant than I anticipated,” he said.

The announcement that the next chairman of CBA's board will be a Christian chain head-Les Dietzman, president of Berean Christian Stores, who will take on the role in October 2008-was “a reflection of how our channel is working so much together,” Anderson said.

Cooperation was increasing not only between different retail groupings with the Christian channel, but also between retailers and suppliers. “We are seeing the walls of the various retail groups and competitors becoming more transparent, and trust is growing,” Anderson said. “And as we begin to see some positive results from our united efforts, we are all encouraged about the future of our channel.”