2023 TSNN Awards Industry Icon Honoree: Bob Maricich, Chairman and CEO, ANDMORE
Bob Maricich is the chairman and CEO of ANDMORE, formerly International Market Centers (IMC), the premier omnichannel wholesale marketmaker for the gift, home furnishings and apparel industries.
Maricich was instrumental in envisioning and developing the strategy for the creation of International Market Centers, L.P. In 2011, he founded IMC with sponsors Bain Capital and Oaktree Capital Management, raising more than $1 billion to fund the purchase of the International Home Furnishings Center, the ShowPlace properties and the Market Square properties in High Point, NC, and merging them with the World Market Center in Las Vegas to form the world’s largest operator of premier permanent showroom and trade show space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. During the next five years, IMC built or purchased five additional buildings in High Point, NC, bringing their total to 17 buildings.
In 2017, Maricich led IMC’s transition to new ownership by Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms, and Fireside Investments. In 2018, he directed IMC’s acquisitions of AmericasMart in Atlanta, and the subsequent acquisition of the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC), creating a compelling portfolio spanning the East and West Coasts of the U.S. that now encompasses more than 22 million square feet of B2B exhibition space. With the AmericasMart acquisiton, IMC also became the managing partner of LightFair, one of North America’s largest architectural and commercial lighting trade shows and conferences, as well as owner and operator of the Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart, which hosts dozens of outside events, meetings and conferences each year.
In 2020, despite the COVID shutdown, IMC constructed the 315,000 sq.-ft. Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas, addressing the lack of downtown Las Vegas exhibit space. In 2022, IMC acquired luxury trade show Shoppe Object and has since expanded it. In 2023, IMC rebranded to ANDMORE, repositioning the company as a fully omnichannel marketmaker utilizing digital tools to extend the value of physical markets and fuel year-round opportunities for buyers and sellers to connect and grow.
Under Maricich’s leadership, ANDMORE serves more than 350,000 global wholesale buyers through its physical markets, design centers and digital channels. It presents some 34 apparel, furniture, gift, home décor and lifestyle markets and buying events – in permanent showroom space and trade show exhibits – in Atlanta; High Point, NC; Las Vegas; and New York. More than 2,200 exhibitors showcase their products in permanent showroom spaces. It brings in an additional 7,000 temporary exhibitors in 2 million sq. ft. of trade show exhibit space each year.
“I am honored to be the 2023 TSNN Industry Icon Award honoree,” Maricich said. “When ANDMORE was founded, my intention was to create an exceptional company of enduring value. Through periods of growth and innovation as well as disruption, we have upheld that promise. ANDMORE is proud to provide opportunities for buyers and sellers to connect, grow and prosper through physical markets, design centers and digital channels like no one else in the industry. I accept this honor on behalf of the whole ANDMORE team and our unwavering commitment to putting our customers first.”
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