Impressions Expo and the decorated apparel business remain on a roll, with crowds and the overall feel at last week’s Impressions Expo Fort Worth confirming the industry continues to sustain its post-COVID momentum.
In terms of raw numbers, this year’s Impressions Expo Fort Worth saw a show floor chock-o-block full, thanks to a 25 percent increase in the amount of exhibitor space and an 8 percent increase in attendance compared to 2022—a year that was already seeing the event returning to pre-COVID levels.
ROQ was among the dozens of gear, materials and blank apparel suppliers on hand. 2023 PWP Studio Corporate Event Photographers
Equally, important was the business being generated—both in terms of immediate sales and future leads—in everything from the latest decorating tech to blank apparel. Despite the headwinds created by the higher interest rates put in place by the Fed to help tame the country’s recent bout with inflation, business remains solid—especially in the area of consumer sales. In fact, if there remains a single unifying concern across the industry it’s no longer costs or supply-chain issues, but finding enough workers.
As always, this year’s event featured a variety of different activities and networking opportunities. These included not one but two live printing stations; a complimentary happy hour at the close of the expo’s first full day; Shop Talk with the Ink Kitchen’s Rick Roth offering a series of 20-minute panel discussions on the show floor; and, of course, the Impressions Expo Conference series, with classes on everything from the finer points of screen printing to tips on systematizing your business, DTF and DTG, marketing and social media, and adopting the necessary mindset to not only get a new business off the ground, but make it a success.
For more on tall three Impressions Expos, including Impressions Expo Long Beach and Impressions Expo Atlantic City, click here. Impressions Expo Fort Worth 2024 is set to take place October 24-26. To access Impressions’ online “hub” page with all the latest news, information and updates on the Fort Worth event, click here.
Updated March 27, 2024
