As of 10/28/2013

DALLAS MARKET CENTER HISTORY1923 Southwest Furniture Manufacturers Associations organizes Retail Furniture Association of Texas to hold a market

and rent temporary display space. During the first years the markets rotate between Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio

1934 Retail Furniture Association of Texas leases space for convention and market at larger facilities on Galveston pier

1946 Retail Furniture Association of Texas leases two buildings on State Fair Grounds in Dallas for new Southwest Furniture Market, ending market in Galveston. Buyers from a five state area are invited to the new market in Dallas. Trammell Crow buys six story Doggett building in downtown Dallas and converts it into floor covering showrooms and offices.

1953 A group of decorators and salesmen, representing fine furniture, gifts, carpet and wall coverings companies scattered throughout downtown Dallas approach Trammel Crow to build a single location to show their merchandise. Two days later, Crow presents them with the preliminary plans the future 40,000-square-foot Dallas Decorative Center.

1955 Dallas Decorative Center, the first Design Center in the nation, opens at Oak Lawn and HiLine Drive (71,336 square feet)

1957 Homefurnishings Mart opens with one floor and approximately 200,000 square feet at 2000 Stemmons Freeway. The Homefurnishings Mart and Dallas Decorative Center combine to form the beginning of the Dallas Market Center. The Retail Furniture Association of Texas members are the first exhibitors. The first market, the Summer Homefurnishings Market held in July, attracts 1,850 stores.

1958 Decorative Center is expanded to 150,000 square feet. Homefurnishings Mart is expanded to 400,000 square feet. Trade Mart, the third building in the complex at 2100 Stemmons Freeway, opens with 468,992 square feet.

1959 Trade Mart expands to 873,777 square feet, including the first practical use of the atrium concept in modern buildings

1960 Market Hall, the world’s largest privately-owned exhibition hall, opens at 2200 Stemmons Freeway. Trade Mart expands a second time. Stemmons Freeway opens allowing improved access.

1963 Market Hall expands to 214,000 square feet.

1964 Apparel Mart opens at 2300 Stemmons Freeway at a cost of $15 million. The Apparel Mart is the fifth building in the complex, with approximately 800,000 square feet available for the display and sale of wholesale apparel, textiles and fashion accessories.

1967 Trade Mart expands a third time

1968 Apparel Mart expands by 200,000 square feet

1970 Trade Mart expands for fourth time

As of 10/28/2013

DALLAS MARKET CENTER HISTORY1973 Apparel Mart expands for second time for a total of 1.3 million square feet, becoming the largest building in the

Dallas Market Center complex and the nation’s largest wholesale apparel building.

1974 World Trade Center opens with seven floors totaling 1.4 million square feet at 2050 Stemmons Freeway, becoming the largest building in the Dallas Market Center complex. With the opening of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport the same year, the city takes two major steps toward becoming an international trade center.

1975 Trammell Crow co-develops the Brussels International Trade Mart in Brussels, Belgium. This Mart, the first trade center of its kind in Europe, immediately attracts buyers from around the world. The Brussels Mart remains under Crow ownership to this day.

1976 Trade Mart expands for the fifth time to the present size of 1 million square feet, giving Dallas Market Center a total 4.8 million square feet of display space, making it the world’s largest single-site wholesale merchandise resource. More than 400,000 buyers from the United States and numerous foreign countries attend markets. First annual Dallas Fashion Awards is held in Apparel Mart.

1978 Dallas Market Center announces plans for adding eight floors onto the World Trade Center and two more floors onto the Apparel Mart, giving the center more than 7 million square feet.

1979 The Anatole, a new concept in convention hotels, opens with 1.5 million room nights reserved, an industry record for hotels.

1982 The Menswear Mart, featuring the greatest permanent concentration of menswear companies in the world, opens adjacent to the Apparel Mart. With the opening of the Mart, Dallas emerges as the nation’s leading menswear marketplace.

1984 The Anatole expands making it the biggest convention hotel in the Southwest

1985 INFOMART, the world’s first and only information processing marketing center, opens. INFOMART is the eighth addition to the Dallas Market Center complex, with 1.5 million square feet of space.

1988 Gourmet Market, the first permanent shared showroom concept implemented for the specialty food industry, opens

1991 Trammell Crow develops Kobe Mart in Japan, which opens with 1,154,340 square feet on 10 floors showcasing seven industries: men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, accessories, fi ne jewelry, leather, intimate apparel and home interiors.

1992 Apparel Mart name changed to International Apparel Mart

1993 Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association signs long-term contract for annual tradeshow

As of 10/28/2013

DALLAS MARKET CENTER HISTORY1997 Holiday Expo, a special Market for holiday and floral product, is created by Dallas Market Center and opens at the

Dallas Convention Center. The show moves into space at Dallas Market Center in 1999.

1999 International Floral Design Center® (formerly Homefurnishings Mart) opens as the nation’s largest resource for permanent floral, seasonal products, and related decorative accessories in January. SILK tradeshow for the permanent floral industry is purchased from Epic Enterprises and moves to Dallas Market Center in June. INFOMART is sold.

2000 Menswear Mart closes. Men’s industry moves into International Apparel Mart.

2003 International Floral Design Center changes name to International Floral & Gift Center to reflect expanded product offerings.

2004 FashionCenterDallas®, the new home for apparel and accessories, opens in the World Trade Center. American Floral Industry Association extends agreement with Dallas Market Center. SILK tradeshow branded as Holiday & Home Expo®. International Apparel Mart closes.

2005 500,000-square-foot expansion of Trade Mart is announced to accommodate the growing lighting industry

2008 KidsWorld, a comprehensive 200,000-square-foot marketplace on the 8th floor of the World Trade Center, opens. American Floral Industry Association extends agreement with Dallas Market Center to 2022.

2011 International Floral & Gift Center changes name to International Trade Plaza (The Plaza) to reflect product offerings

2012 Dallas Market Center announces a new market, PBJ: Play. Baby. Juvenile. – an innovative showcase of the latest baby and juvenile gift & gadgets supported by year-round marketing promotion

2013 Dallas Market Center announces a new market, The One – It’s All About the Dress, to be held twice a year in March (bridal and homecoming) and September (combined bridal and prom).