news-record.com

By Robert J. Maricich

As president and chief executive officer of World Market Center Las Vegas, I read your April 26 article, "Vegas fights for market share," with puzzlement.

While World Market Center Las Vegas and Las Vegas Market are featured prominently in the piece, to my knowledge you did not attempt to speak with anyone at our organization to confirm, deny or place into context the WMCLV-specific information you refer to, as to which you do not cite a source. Neither did you seek our comments with respect to statements made by sources whom you have named.

While, as a matter of policy, we may not comment on certain matters such as litigation or confidential and proprietary information, we certainly would have negated the misinformation contained in the article, including misguided and wrongful speculation you attribute to unnamed sources. Your inquiry from us would have further betrayed the self-serving nature of statements by such sources on the eve of another market's event. While our lease terms and negotiations are confidential, and your account of the same badly misses the mark, virtually every type of lease negotiation and concession that you cite is engaged in and provided by other markets. Yet there is no suggestion in your article, as your unnamed sources gratuitously and baselessly intimate about LVM, that such lease negotiations or concessions will result in the demise of other markets.

Indeed, your unattributed statements such as "powerful industry insiders say World Market Center's finances are changing" are reflective of unsubstantiated statements instead of accurate reporting. No "powerful industry insider" other than WMCLV's top executives has access to the finances of WMCLV, and you chose not to interview our executives or seek any factual information from us. It is remarkable that the only "industry insider" you identify is the chairman of High Point Market Authority.

Contrary to the misguided conjecture by unnamed sources in your article, WMCLV and the Las Vegas Market are well-positioned for the future. We are the only organization that has invested in excess of $1 billion in the U.S. in the last five years to benefit the furniture industry as a whole. It is unlikely that any other organization will make an investment of such magnitude to promote the industry for years to come.

Moreover, our partnership with New York-based Related Cos. ensures that we stand ready to continue our expansion plans when manufacturers regain their financial footing. We have signed up more tenants and have attracted more buyers in a few short years, than any other market has ever done in the same period.

At our recent Winter Market in February, despite the challenging economic environment, we maintained our historic average of 50,000 registrants. At the same time we were able to get a head start by generating more than 10,000 pre-registrations for our next market (Sept. 14-17). Also this winter, we attracted 6,527 new buyers, and more than 1,500 manufacturers and product lines were represented. The number of international buyers attending increased an astonishing 19 percent over the previous market.

Also, I am at a loss why you would mention our participation in a Tax Increment Financing program, which is merely the return of a part of our investment in infrastructure to make our project a reality and accordingly benefit the urban renewal of the entire downtown portion of the city. We have invested more than $1.1 billion of private capital. We only get back a fraction of the incremental taxes we generate, in order to offset the significant infrastructure investment we made up front.

On the other hand, we receive no subsidies from other taxpayers or government money for our operations whatsoever -- unlike the High Point Market. We are the largest taxpayer in Las Vegas.

Unclouded by rumor and innuendo, these facts tell the true story. Accurate reporting of these facts will enable your readers to be properly informed about the future of the industry, as opposed to being misled by self-serving propaganda.