PACK EXPO International Scores Increases Across the Board in Chicago

November 5, 2012

Despite opening its doors at Chicago’s McCormick Place the day before Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, PMMI’s biennial PACK EXPO International still pulled in a 3-percent increase in attendees to 45,388, compared with the 2010 event.

Before the storm struck, attendance was tracking even higher, with pre-registration up nearly 10 percent.

“While we fully expected to surpass our attendance goals, the storm’s effect on East Coast travel prohibited many from making the show,” said Charles D. Yuska, president and CEO of PACK EXPO.

He added, “However, we still finished with the largest PACK EXPO International since 2006.”

Much of the increase came from international attendance, which was up 8 percent, compared with the last show.

PACK EXPO International was held Oct. 26-31 and also covered 1.1 million net square feet of space with 1,965 exhibitors, an increase of over 6 percent for space and 7 percent for exhibiting companies.

“The increase in exhibitors speaks to the quality of business done at PACK EXPO,” Yuska said.

He added, “These exhibiting companies invest time and resources, and they have to believe that they are going to get a return on that investment.” 

The 2010 PACK EXPO International was ranked No. 3 on the TSNN Top 250 Trade Show list.

The success of this year’s show is helping to build excitement for PMMI’s next event – PACK EXPO Las Vegas on tap Sept. 23-25.

Approximately 47,000 square feet of booth space was sold during the show in Chicago last week, bringing the current PACK EXPO Las Vegas net square footage to nearly 560,000 net sq. ft., which already is more than 20 percent ahead of pace from 2011, according to PMMI officials.

“PACK EXPO International 2012 was definitely a success,” Yuska said.

He added, “Traffic was strong, despite the storm, and the exhibitors I spoke with were very pleased with the number and quality of leads they received. I think it’s also significant that exhibitors were already planning ahead and reserving booth space for PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2013.”

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