Organizers Say IFE Exhibitors At Historic High

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Over the weekend, the International Franchise Expo (IFE) provided more franchise choices than any other previous show, according to its show organizer. On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Richard Macaluso (pictured), Show Director for MFV Expositions, told Blue MauMau that the show would see some 10,500 attendees come through its doors since its opening Friday morning. The number of exhibitors had hit record numbers with "325 plus companies attending the show", giving buyers more franchise choices to select from than ever before.

Although provided with many franchise opportunities, some franchise buyers expressed disappointment that some of the large franchisors could not be found at the Expo. "That's a decision that is up to them", replied Mr. Macaluso, referring to McDonald's, Yum!, and other large franchise chains.

Franchise Shows Continue to Localize

The increased interest by show attendees and exhibitors bodes well for MFV who continues to add expo shows throughout the country to reach more franchise buyers. Its most recent success was only a few months ago.

Advertised in ten states surrounding California, MFV has discovered the West, a place that apparently has a voracious interest in franchises. It is quickly catching up with the franchise world's more well established and premier event, the IFE show.

Mr. Macaluso observed, “The West Coast Franchise Expo has come on strong from the first moment it began.  The first show in 2004 had 132 exhibitors and brought in 8000 people. The second year had 175 exhibitors and 9,300 attendees."  

With an audience of buyers that are quite close to attendance figures of the IFE, this means that East Coast attendees of the IFE would have roughly twice as many franchisors to look at compared to their West Coast counterparts. And from the exhibitor’s point of view, the fewer exhibitors at the West Coast Franchise Show would have roughly 70% more visitors per exhibitor than their East Coast counterparts.

Macaluso observes, “Florida might be similar”, indicating an expectation that their newest addition to the family of franchise expos, Franchise Expo South, will have very robust attendance numbers in January of 2007.

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A podcast of the audio interview with MFV Expositions is available here in Blue MauMau's audio library (4 meg file in mp3 format). It can be heard using Windows Media Player, Real Player and most other media players.