Highlights from NHS and IBS
For anyone who attended the 2023 National Hardware Show, the International Builders’ Show or the KBIS last week in Las Vegas, there’s a good chance that notes continue to be organized, business cards continue to be alphabetized and ideas continue to be digested.
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View of the parking lot on the eve of the giant event. -
The Home Builders Institute promoted the trades on the show flooor. -
Product demos generated excitement at the Habitat area of the National Hardware Show. -
At the Mitek booth, a demo of an open we garage header. -
Spring green is one of the colors Kohler is bringing back to the bathroom, a decision based on a customer survey. -
All told, some 127,000 professionals attended the co-located IBS, KBIS and NHS in Las Vegas. -
The Boxabl stack-and-connect building system generated interest in the IBS parking lot. -
A Sheryl Crow concert added a musical exclamation point to the three-day event.
As industry events go, this was a massive event, occupying the entire Las Vegas Convention Complex (which was connected this year by an innovative underground transport system connected to Elon Musk’s electric car business).
According to the National Association of Home Builders, the 2023 event was the biggest since 2008. “We told you this year’s show was going to bring the heat like never before,” the NAHB crowed in its wrap-up press release. “It did not disappoint.”
The combined IBS and KBIS (also known as Design & Construction Week) celebrated its 10th year of co-location while attracting nearly 110,000 attendees, and nearly 2,000 exhibitors.
“What an incredible way to celebrate 10 years of Design & Construction Week with this record attendance,” said Jerry Howard, Chief Executive Officer of NAHB. “Walking the show floor and attending the education sessions and networking events, you could feel the energy and enthusiasm from exhibitors and attendees alike.”
Simultaneously, the National Hardware Show had a strong showing in the South Hall, where an estimated 17,000 industry attendees connected, demonstrated and experienced what’s new in home improvement.
Back this year at the Hardware Show was the Habitat area, which promoted a variety of trends, including the idea of the home as a “Happy Place.” Here’s how the organizers of the Habitat program described this particular category of new products: “Moments of joy and everyday escapism take on new importance in an unpredictable and tumultuous world. Happy Place explores ways of weaving simple pleasures, big and small, into aspects of every life.”
Well said.
Next year, IBS and KBIS will be back in Las Vegas Feb. 27-29, 2024. The National Hardware Show will be held a month later in the new West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 26-28, 2024.
