ALL TOO MUCH

Economic turmoil for the home furnishings industry is contributing to a backlash against high rent and fees at the World Market Center, the $3 billion furniture trading venue rising in downtown Las Vegas.

The agitator is a New York exhibitor leasing space in the center who says the cost of doing business in Las Vegas is undermining the venue's viability.

The exhibitor, Robert Weiss of Ridgewood, N.Y., is circulating an electronic petition to other exhibitors to solicit money for an attorney he says could articulate the problem to World Market Center management.

"Business is difficult for everybody," Weiss said about the impact of the nation's real estate and credit market meltdowns on the $84 billion furniture and bedding industry.

And the cost of renting space at World Market Center, a series of buildings under development downtown, is higher than the amount of business it generates for many exhibitors, claims Weiss, who would not say how much he pays in rent.

"Several showroom people that I have spoken with have agreed to this approach," Weiss wrote in an e-mail asking whether recipients would be willing to share attorney fees. "Most agree that we should collectively hire an attorney to present our case to show management."

Weiss wouldn't say whether World Market Center officials were receptive to his complaints or how many other exhibitors support his action.

Neither World Market Center nor a competing market in North Carolina disclose rent figures. But one small exhibitor at World Market Center in January estimated he would need to do about $100,000 in business to cover costs of exhibiting in Las Vegas.

Bob Maricich, a longtime furniture industry executive recently hired as president and chief executive officer of World Market Center, acknowledged rent costs more in Las Vegas than it does in similar markets in Atlanta and High Point, N.C.

But he added that the overall cost of flying to Las Vegas and renting hotel rooms for twice-annual market events is cheaper than for other venues.

He also said the compact, vertical layout of the World Market Center buildings helps buyers network with more exhibitors during a market event than they can in a comparable period at other venues.

"In two or three days you can get the amount of work done that would take you a week at any other market," said Maricich, whose former employer, Century Furniture, is a prominent exhibitor at the competing High Point Market.

Maricich pointed to increasing attendance at World Market Center events from East Coast and overseas buyers from 83 of the top 100 furniture retailers as evidence Las Vegas is a fruitful venue for exhibitors with attractive products and effective marketing. He said most Las Vegas exhibitors are profiting from the venue despite the cost of rent and offered other reasons why buyers skip some showrooms.

"It could be there is no curb appeal there," Maricich said. "It could be they are not interested in the product. It could be they don't know who they are and that the company did a poor job of outreach."

Jerry Epperson, a furniture analyst for the firm Mann, Armistead & Epperson in Richmond, Va., also acknowledged that World Market Center rates are higher than other venues. But he said tenants knew the costs when they agreed to rent space.

Epperson also said Las Vegas tenants have an opportunity to cultivate customers who aren't going to High Point or other markets east of the Continental Divide.

Epperson also said backlash against Las Vegas is natural considering the way World Market Center barged onto the furniture industry stage in 2005.

In addition to being a striking addition to the Las Vegas skyline, the World Market Center was pitched as a catalyst to fill rooms at struggling downtown hotels and breathe life into a blighted area between Main Street and Interstate 15. Developers received millions of dollars in tax incentives from the city for the project.

Even before the venue opened, developers announced they would surpass High Point Market, a rural venue more than 100 years old in the heart of the nation's epicenter for furniture making.

"Las Vegas, sort of, from Day One said, 'We are going to overcome High Point,'" Epperson said. "The way the statements were crafted was like (Nikita) Khrushchev stating, 'We will bury you.' "

Rather than focus on animosity between competing markets and disgruntled tenants, Maricich and World Market Center are highlighting development projects that are on schedule and customers who are satisfied.

Maricich said if World Market Center leaders are effective customers will continue to rent space at the venue even if they are cutting back elsewhere.

"You just have to make sure the product is good enough to warrant it," Maricich said. "Tough times really force you to make tough choices. I would hope that we would be in position that when people have to make tough choices we would win."

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or (702) 477-3861.