ATTENDEES' QUALITY PLEASES ECVS EXHIBITORS

DAN ALAIMO

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Although exhibitors at the Oct. 1 to 3 East Coast Video Show here wished for more supermarket attendees, they were pleased with the quality of the ones who did attend and the overall success of the show.

"In the last two years, it has really become a first-rate show and we are excited to be here," said Ken Bryan, Northeast regional sales manager at Vidmark Entertainment, Santa Monica, Calif.

"Each year it gets better and better," said John Maioriello, chairman of JD Store Equipment, Manhattan Beach, Calif. "You get quality prospects here," he said.

"This year, ECVS has proven once again that the retailers will come out for a regional show," noted Joe Amodei, director of sales for the Eastern region at Turner Home Entertainment, Atlanta.

"This show is growing and continuing to get good exhibitors, as well as good people coming to the show," said Stephanie C. Kovner, marketing director at BMG Video, New York.

"People come here to buy," said Lee Gimbel, market development manager for Specialty Store Services, Morton Grove, Ill. "I travel to almost every show in the country and this show is probably the best in that regard," he said.

At the booth of Barney supplier, Lyrick Studios, formerly known as Lyons Group, Richardson, Texas, Michael Reed, Northeast regional sales manager, said, "It has amazed me how this has come from a small, basically rental-only show to a full-blown trade show for the video industry."

But some noted that supermarket attendance was disappointing this year.

"There are some supermarkets here, but a lot are missing," said Wayne Mogel, vice president at Star Video Entertainment, Jersey City, N.J. "There could have been a better showing of supermarkets at this show," he said.

"I'm always looking for more supermarket involvement and I try to promote that," said John Jump, senior vice president of sales for Sight & Sound Distributors, St. Louis. "But the supermarket executives are very busy and they probably have 20 shows a year they could attend if they wanted to," he said.

ECVS "is a very important kick-off for the fourth quarter," said Herb Dorfman, president of Orion Home Video, Los Angeles. Noting the attendance of the big chains like Wegmans, Dorfman noted that otherwise "supermarket participation was at the very best minimal to nonexistent. That only proves to us that there is a great opportunity in the supermarket trade to grow the business beyond where it is now.

"We've had quite a few of the supermarket people come by and look at other opportunities that we have here with plush, books and toys, as well as video. The supermarkets should be more active in the video industry and they should participate in these regional shows where they don't have to leave for days on end to travel," he said.