Frequently Asked Questions
What is a medical mart?
What is Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.?
Where does MMPI own and manage buildings?
What kinds of trade shows does MMPI produce?
What is MMPI’s experience with integrated showroom and trade show facilities?
What construction and renovation projects has the MMPI team completed?
What is the corporate structure of MMPI?
How did MMPI become involved in the medical mart project?
Are there other marts in the United States?
Why does MMPI want to locate a medical mart in Cleveland? Why not choose a bigger city like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago?
What are MMPI’s goals in developing a medical mart in Cleveland?
Where in Cuyahoga County will the medical mart be located?
What are the key design aspects of the medical mart and trade show facility?
Why does Cleveland need a new trade show facility?
Why does the medical mart need to be linked to a trade show facility?
How will a medical mart and trade show facility bring more visitors to Cleveland?
How will a medical mart help Cleveland’s economy?
What is a medical mart?
Hundreds of medical trade shows and thousands more medical meetings and conferences are held in the United States every year. Many of these events involve the sort of extensive product displays and demonstrations that are found at the scores of trade shows and consumer events that MMPI has been successfully producing for over 50 years. We feel our proven business model, coupled with the vast influence of Cleveland’s medical community, can effectively consolidate and streamline the process of healthcare product demonstration and evaluation while providing a new economic engine for Cleveland.
The medical mart that MMPI proposes for Cleveland would be a collection of permanent showrooms displaying every kind of healthcare product from cutting-edge imaging machines to scrubs and scalpels all year round. The showrooms’ key clientele would be the primary decision makers in the healthcare industry: doctors, nurses, facility managers, interior designers and even architects. Coupled with a new, modern tradeshow facility capable of hosting large-scale temporary exhibits, we believe that a medical mart in Cleveland could bring dozens of medical trade shows to the city each year, generating millions in annual economic impact.
What is Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.?
Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI) is both a property manager and trade show producer, divisionally organized by the industries housed in our buildings and represented at our events. We act as a market maker for the industries we serve, bringing together wholesalers, retailers and consumers. All three of these groups look to MMPI and our buildings to find all the products, services and education they need.
Each year, MMPI hosts dozens of major trade shows and more than 300 conferences, seminars and special events throughout North America. Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, we provide our clients with responsive, on-site management and turnkey service. Our success is ultimately dependent on the success of our showrooms and exhibitors, so our marketing programs are specifically constructed as platforms on which our clients can build their own events.
Where does MMPI own and manage buildings?
What kinds of trade shows does MMPI produce?
Each year, MMPI runs scores of trade shows within the buildings we manage and outside trade show and meeting facilities. A list of the events that are currently scheduled can be found here.
What is MMPI’s experience with integrated showroom and trade show facilities?
Over a decade ago, MMPI pioneered the concept of an integrated market center facility combining permanent year-round showrooms with temporary exhibit space. We have found this combination incredibly powerful and symbiotic. The mart itself is made more successful by virtue of its proximity to the trade shows, and the trade shows generate greater attendance because visitors are attracted to the ability to see the flagship showrooms of the major manufacturers and industry pioneers.
We have applied this model around the country in Chicago, Los Angeles, and High Point, NC, and have met with great success in each city. Presently, MMPI produces more than 300 trade shows, market events and conferences each year.
What construction and renovation projects has the MMPI team completed?
Our experienced management team has developed and operated trade show facilities and other buildings around the country.
In Chicago, we built the Chicago Apparel Center, two large parking garages, and 400 N. LaSalle, a residential high-rise. We built a 400,000 square foot Market Suites facility on the 7th and 8th floors of the Merchandise Mart that is used for large shows over 20 times a year. We built another 100,000 square foot trade show facility on the 2nd floor of the Chicago Apparel Center.
In New York City, we completely renovated 450,000 square feet of space at the historic 7 W 34th St. building to create New York premier gift showroom space.
In Washington, D.C., we renovated 250,000 square feet of historic warehouse space and added another 150,000 square feet of new construction to create the Washington Design Center.
We built a 50,000 square foot Market Suites facility in downtown Los Angeles and the 750,000 square foot Market Suites facility in High Point, North Carolina.
What is the corporate structure of MMPI?
MMPI has long roots. It was the company set up to manage the Kennedy family’s portfolio of real estate assets, which was largely concentrated in the showroom business.
By 1998, we had developed a large organizational structure and we had what we believed to be the finest management team of its kind in the country. At that time, we thought that there was an opportunity to consolidate the ownership of this management-intensive niche of the real estate business. Our senior management team looked for a company which might share our vision and enhance our efforts.
Vornado Realty Trust of New York fit the bill. Vornado’s aggressive style, massive size, billion-dollar line of credit which would be made available to MMPI for acquisitions and new projects, and their leadership in the form of CEO Steve Roth and President Mike Fascitelli made them ideal partners.
Vornado is the largest commercial office real estate investment trust in the United States today with a total market capitalization of about $30 billion. Vornado owns approximately 86 million square feet of property across the United States.
How did MMPI become involved in the medical mart project?
Nearly 18 months ago, MMPI received a call that generated a lot of excitement. Dr. Toby Cosgrove, the world-renowned heart surgeon and dynamic leader of the Cleveland Clinic, contacted us in the hopes of presenting an idea which was, in short, the Cleveland Medical Mart.
Our initial reaction was enthusiastic and supportive. We recognize that Cleveland enjoys a tremendous leadership position by virtue of the fact that it is home to the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve and the University Hospital System of Cleveland, among others. It is also home to the thousands of supporting companies that have grown up around these institutions. It is, in many ways, the medical capital of the United States. As a believer in the potential of the medical industry and staunch advocate of marts in general, MMPI feels a medical mart in Cleveland is an opportunity worth pursuing.
Are there other marts in the United States?
Marts exist in every major city in the United States.
In Chicago, MMPI runs the Merchandise Mart and the Chicago Apparel Center, but Chicago also spawned the American Furniture Mart.
In New York City, MMPI runs the New York Gift Mart, but New York City is also home to the New York Textiles Mart, the New York Furniture Mart and the New York Tabletop Mart.
In Boston, we run the Boston Design Center, but Boston is also home to the Boston Gift Mart.
In Los Angeles we run the L.A. Mart®. Los Angeles is also home to the Los Angeles Apparel Mart, the California Market Center and the Pacific Design Center.
In High Point, we manage 6 different buildings, but that town is also home to over 12 million square feet of mart space.
There are also major marts in Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Las Vegas and Denver.
Why does MMPI want to locate a medical mart in Cleveland? Why not choose a bigger city like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago?
Every city has its niche, and Cleveland is no exception. New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago are cities known for trendsetting design, bold architecture and vibrant art; it is no coincidence that MMPI has chosen these markets for our design centers and major trade shows in the art and design fields. High Point, NC, is the furniture capital of the world, and it is no accident that MMPI operates furniture showrooms and trade show facilities in that market.
Cleveland is, in many ways, the medical capital of North America. The medical communities of the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve, MetroHealth and the University Hospitals of Cleveland are located within blocks of each other, and these institutions are home to more physicians than all the hospitals in Boston. Cleveland is also home to myriad medical manufacturers and small businesses that are leading the way in innovative research and technology. MMPI feels that Cleveland’s critical mass of medical professionals, along with its layout and improving infrastructure, make it a very attractive and convenient meeting place for the healthcare industry’s major players.
What are MMPI’s goals in developing a medical mart in Cleveland?
We understand the economic benefit of the trade show industry. We know that trade shows can become great economic engines that can fuel a city’s growth, turn around a city’s downtown and define a city’s future.
We at MMPI pledge our support for Cleveland and Cuyahoga County’s mission to help fulfill this city’s potential related to economic development.
Like many other companies, we want to be good corporate citizens. Wherever we work, we want to work with others who want a safe and vibrant downtown, an expanding economy and a growing tax base.
We want to help with job training and adult vocational programs. We want to help diversify the economy in the city by exposing Cleveland to industry executives from leading firms in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical systems that may choose Cleveland as a place for relocation or expansion.
We want to support good schools, great hospitals and research labs, and see leading colleges and educational institutions grow. We want to create an economic engine that will benefit everyone in Cleveland and the surrounding region.
We believe the trade show industry is critical to these dreams and acts as a huge lever to help us accomplish these goals.
Where in Cuyahoga County will the medical mart be located?
MMPI feels it is imperative that the medical mart be located directly adjacent to or in close proximity to Cuyahoga County’s new trade show facility.
It became clear to us that a location within the city limits of Cleveland would fulfill all of the best hopes and dreams for the medical mart. Cleveland has one of the best transportation infrastructures between the airport and downtown of any city in the U.S. Downtown Cleveland also gives us access to older building stock, in the same vintage as the Merchandise Mart, which easily can be converted to showroom use to create an integrated facility.
The ever-improving connection between downtown and the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve and University Hospitals ensures our ability to quickly move attendees from the conference and trade show facilities directly to the working examples in the heart of Cleveland’s medical community.
What are the key design aspects of the medical mart and trade show facility?
MMPI would like to create a combined facility that would accommodate both trade shows and showrooms. A facility of this size would accommodate most medical trade shows that are currently produced in the U.S.
The facility would feature flexible meeting rooms of varying sizes. This will allow us to accommodate concurrent seminars and panel discussions, which are often the core offering of many conference-oriented medical trade shows, as well as keynote sessions. The facility would be flexible in its layout in order to accommodate banquets, large meetings, and small and medium and large trade shows.
It would feature world-class architecture in order to compete with trade show facilities throughout North America, and to reflect the architectural leadership of the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve.
The facility would have dedicated loading docks that are adjacent to the show floor in order to provide the most efficient and economic move-in and move-out possible. The dock space would be easily accessible from the surface roads and should allow trucks to queue easily.
Why does Cleveland need a new trade show facility?
Cleveland’s current convention center, while conveniently located, is over 80 years old and operationally obsolete. The center’s layout makes it ill-suited to most modern trade show designs, and it lacks sufficient break-out meeting space for small conferences. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer put it, the current center has “too many columns, too-low ceilings, and too few loading docks.” According to Kelly Brewer of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland, at least a dozen groups considered Cleveland for meetings in 2005 through 2009 but cited the current convention center as their main reason for going elsewhere.
Why does the medical mart need to be linked to a trade show facility?
This is not a “chicken-or-egg” dilemma. We absolutely need a full roster of trade shows to demonstrate to manufacturers an economic justification for taking space in the medical mart - so we need a trade show hall first.
We believe that combining the new trade show facility with the medical mart will make it much more efficient for Cleveland to attract exhibitors and visitors.
In analyzing the various medical trade shows that are held in North America, we have found that there are many manufacturers who exhibit repeatedly in many of these shows. For example, any given major medical manufacturer may exhibit in 25 different medical trade shows a year.
A medical mart is a much more efficient way for a large medical products manufacturer to show their products to their customers. Co-locating the medical mart with a trade show hall would allow a major medical products manufacturer to secure permanent space and to participate in dozens of trade shows.
Other smaller and mid-sized companies—companies that may be very niche-oriented and unable to justify the costs of securing a medical mart showroom—would then be able to exhibit in a temporary space.
By having all of these companies—both permanent showrooms and temporary exhibitors—in the same place, there will be a critical mass that will attract attendees from all around the country.
How will a medical mart and trade show facility bring more visitors to Cleveland?
In MMPI’s view, there will be three main drivers of increased traffic to Cleveland.
The first driver is Cleveland’s medical community, which when combined is perhaps the single largest customer for medical products manufacturers in the entire United States. For the medical industry to participate in trade shows at the front door of the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve and the entire Cleveland University Hospital System puts those manufacturers in an advantaged position to cultivate great relationships with the largest medical products customers in the United States.
The second driver is aimed at the large medical product manufacturers. These manufacturers will stand to save tens of millions of dollars annually in their trade show exhibiting costs if they secure a showroom in a Cleveland-based medical mart that would allow them to participate in multiple healthcare trade shows in Cleveland out of a single showroom.
The third driver is that, with a medical hub in place, traveling shows will want to collocate with the medical mart in Cleveland because their attendees will be able to see the voluminous showrooms of major manufactures who heretofore will not have participated in those smaller trade shows and events.
How will a medical mart help Cleveland’s economy?
In short, a medical mart will help Cleveland’s economy by bringing more visitors into the city and ensuring that those visitors spend money while they are in Cleveland. Trade show industry research indicates that average show attendees spend about $1,100 on hotels, transportation, and food every time they attend a show. MMPI believes that it is feasible for a medical mart and the new convention center to host many important medical trade shows and conferences every year. With hundreds and sometimes thousands of attendees per show, the direct economic impact of the medical trade show industry in Cleveland will reach millions of dollars per year.
The medical trade show industry will also have a ripple effect on Cleveland’s economy. Waitresses and waiters, taxi cab drivers, bellmen and others in the support economy are highly likely to convert their income to spending, creating a second wave of economic impact immediately after every show. Standard models that are used in every city to measure economic impact generally apply a multiplier of two to three times direct spending to accurately factor in this second wave of spending to an industry’s total economic impact. If we add to this the huge amount of spending on the actual trade show production—the employment of hundreds of electricians, carpenters and painters, as well as the ongoing management of the medical mart—we can realistically project a new economic engine for Cleveland.
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