ATLANTA — Professionals from all facets of the laundering, drycleaning and textile care industry will convene once again April 16-19 for the biennial World Educational Congress for Laundering and Drycleaning—better known by many in the industry as the Clean Show.
“I’m anxious to see what this time slot in April will do,” says John Riddle, president of Riddle & Associates, the Clean Show’s management company.
“Atlanta is a good city [and] I think people are going to find out a lot of positive things are going on around here.”
RETURN TO ATLANTA
In its 38th year, the exhibition makes a return trip to Atlanta, some 28 years since the city last hosted the show in 1987.
This year’s theme is “One Industry. One Stage.” The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) provides the platform.
This will be the third time the GWCC plays host to the show, particularly as recent renovations to the center can accommodate the show’s size and unique utility demands.
As previously reported in American Coin-Op, a new steam system had recently been installed at the center, covering approximately 125,000 square feet of exhibit space, according to the Riddle & Associates.
“The Clean Show features working equipment and uses more steam than any other trade show in the world,” the company explains, as an equivalent of about 100 neighborhood drycleaning establishments are built on the sprawling exhibit floor.
“[The show takes] the entire textile care industry, from the coin-operated stores to your huge commercial laundries, and everything in between in textile care, [and] we put them all together all on one stage. We’re all here,” says Riddle of the show’s theme.
“I can’t tell you that I see any trends than what we’ve seen in the past [but] we’ve got some new companies coming and I think we’re going to have a great show,” Riddle adds.
“If anybody is in the textile care industry … you’ve got to be here in the show because, this going to sound cliché, but this is the Super Bowl of the textile care industry.”
Clean 2015 is set to take place in Building B of the convention center, in halls B2 to B5, with an anticipated total exhibit space encompassing approximately 195,000 net square feet, according to Riddle & Associates.
This year’s show sees another return, as the exhibition reverts to its traditional four-day format, after Clean 2013’s shortened three-day schedule.
Distributors will have exclusive early access to the show floor beginning 8 a.m. on Thursday, April 16, with the show opening to all attendees at 10 a.m. and running until 5 p.m.
Show hours for Friday and Saturday are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., while Sunday has a shorter schedule of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The 2013 show, hosted by the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, attracted 10,300 industry professionals, including 1,663 people from 83 countries outside of the United States, according to Riddle & Associates.
A CLEAN HISTORY
Named 112th among 2013 Trade Show News Network’s Top 250 Trade Shows, the Clean Show is the largest textile care exposition in the world that features working equipment, says Riddle & Associates.
The show traces its roots back to the mid-1970s, when industry manufacturers and suppliers found exhibiting shows annually was costly. Interest in consolidating into one biennial industry-wide show was expressed, and as a result, three associations collaborated for a 1975 show they called the Clean Show.
Three additional sponsors joined, eventually forming the World Educational Congress for Laundering and Drycleaning in 1977, giving birth to the Clean Show with which the industry is familiar today.
Current show sponsors include the Association for Linen Management (ALM), Coin Laundry Association (CLA), Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA), and the Textile Rental Services Association of America (TRSA).
Initially, the show was hosted in Chicago, where it has been held four times. In addition to Atlanta (which hosted the 1987 and 1981 shows), the Clean Show has been held in Las Vegas (five times), New Orleans (five times) and Orlando (twice), as those cities became the only venues that could accommodate the show’s size and utility requirements.
In 1992, the show (which was being managed by the CLA) had grown in size and stature, leading sponsors to seek counsel with professional show management, according to Riddle & Associates, who was then hired to produce Clean ’93.
The move was a “natural fit,” the company says, as John Riddle had worked with the Clean Show’s operations since 1981.
Check back Wednesday for the conclusion!
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].