History

Western Exhibitors Trade Shows was founded in Seattle, Washington in 1930 by Kay Leber, a 29 year old manufacturer's representative for Norcross Greeting Cards. Female sales reps were a rarity in those days, but the bold Ms. Leber traversed the Pacific Northwest by train with her male counterparts, calling on retail accounts. At the time, many salesmen representing domestic manufacturers and importers in the West, traveled in groups to cities and towns in their sales territory and set up their sample lines in hotel rooms and took orders. They then invited local retailers to see their lines and place orders. Since she was the only woman among the sales reps, Kay often drew the "secretarial duties", sending out the invitations and placing phone calls to existing and potential accounts. It was during this time that Ms. Leber saw an opportunity to exploit the retailers' desire to see an entire product line first hand. She soon organized 15 exhibitors and held her first Gift Show at the Olympic Hotel in Seattle. She utilized her "secretarial skills" by promoting the event through direct mail to stores in the region and the exhibiting companies were charged a fee for the service.

Bert Tonkin (Kay's nephew) joined the company in 1955 and soon Western Exhibitors, Inc. was on it's way to becoming one of the major trade show firms in the U.S. Bert's enthusiasm and generosity helped to build Western's reputation for service and integrity. In the fall of 2002, Bert Tonkin lost his 12 battle with cancer but left behind a legacy of good works and great memories. His daughter Wendy is the Executive Vice President of the company and is joined by Mike Dean, President and longtime friend of Bert in overseeing the continuing success of both Universal Shows and Western Exhibitors.

Today, Western Exhibitors, LLC produces semi-annual wholesale trade shows in Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington and San Francisco. These events collectively utilize approximately 500,000 net square feet of exhibit space and draw more than 60,000 buyers and exhibitors twice yearly.

In 1993 Western joined forces with George Little Management, Inc. of New York and added special juried divisions to the San Francisco Gift Show, which was then re-named the San Francisco International Gift Fair.® The SFIGF has grown in both size and reputation in the 10 years since and is one of the top five gift shows in the country. This summer Western and GLM will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their partnership with a party during the August 23-23 Fair.

In 2001, Western joined the dmg World Media family with a sale of 25% of the company to the London based media giant. Western Exhibitors, Inc became Western Exhibitors, LLC and will concentrate on managing The San Francisco International Gift Fair, The Seattle Gift Show and The Portland Gift & Accessories Show.

The dmg alliance is made up of George Little Mangement, Dallas Market Center, Western and whereoware.com.

As a result of the merger with dmg - a separate company to produce other trade events (Universal Shows, Inc) was born. Universal both owns and manages The Northwest Home Furnishing Show; The Holiday Bonus Show in San Francisco; The Portland Cash & Carry Show; The Universal Bead Show in Portland.

Universal Shows also partners with Urban Expositions and George Little Management, LLC. in owning and producing the International New Age Trade Shows in Orlando, Florida and Denver, CO, as well as the Orlando Gift Show which runs concurrently with INATS EAST.

Universal Shows, Inc., also has interests in The Toronto Art Fair in Canada, the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show and The Seattle Interior Show all public shows.