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In 1994, Karla Little noticed that several soft goods catalog companies such as LL Bean, Garnet Hill and The Company Store were introducing furniture and home furnishings. Earlier in her career as an art teacher she had interacted with various craft shows and as she came to know several custom furniture makers she realized that they needed a unique upscale venue to showcase their work to the public and members of the interior design trade.
Little wanted to produce this show in New England since there was a significant concentration of this type of artisan within driving distance. She chose Providence because it is well situated between Boston and New York City design centers with a great facility that is very easy to get to and not so big that the show would be lost within it during the first few years. In addition, the Rhode Island Convention Center also offers plenty of room for growth.
Since its inaugural show in the fall of 1996, Fine Furnishings Providence has evolved in many ways. In the early years several state economic development groups and product associations supported the show by hosting up to 12 exhibitors in regionally themed pavilions. Because the show proved to be a good outlet for the participants’ goods, many of those exhibitors now contract for their own individual booths every year. The product parade, which offers exhibitors an additional opportunity to merchandise their product at the show, has grown into an actual “showhouse on the show floor” with vignettes of actual room settings filled with exhibitor work. Professional interior decorators that design these rooms compete for awards in several categories. Fine art has replaced small tabletop items because it has proven to be of greater interest to the attending consumer. Over the years, members  of the trade including interior designers, museum curators, architects, home magazine editors, freelance writers, educators, and craftspeople have juried various show awards and served on the show’s advisory board. The quality and quantity of exhibitors has grown at a steady rate and attendance has increased every year with a remarkable boost of 52% in 2003. That same year, Fine Furnishings Providence became the first and only show endorsed by The Furniture Society, a national nonprofit organization that represents and supports the studio furniture trade.
When the Fine Furnishings Providence Show was created it was always Little’s dream and intent to create several Fine Furnishings Shows in key markets in the United States. The Fine Furnishings Milwaukee Show was launched in 2005 and first held in September of 2006 to the rave reviews of exhibitors and attendees and support of the press and trade.
2008 marks the 13th year of the Fine Furnishings Providence Show and the 3rd year of the Fine Furnishings Milwaukee Show. Stay tuned for some major announcements in 2008 for current and future shows.
Fine Furnishings Shows
Owned and produced by KL Communications
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Introduction
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW