The seminars will give buyers a broad view of what’s happening in the world from design, color, retail and consumers to demographics and societal shifts.

The 2007 Las Vegas Summer Furniture Market, July 30 – August 3, 2007, will feature a three-part series by furniture industry gurus entitled ConsumerWatch, ColorWatch and TrendWatch. The series is designed to help buyers see the full gamut of trend - from color palettes to consumer preferences - for the year ahead.

“These seminars will prove to be very valuable for buyers and designers who want to get a broad view of what’s happening in the world from design, color, retail and consumers to demographics and societal shifts,” said Dana Andrew, director of marketing and public relations for World Market Center.

At this summer’s Market, Maxine Lauer, founder and president of Sphere Trending LLC, will present a ConsumerWatch seminar on Tuesday, July 31 at 10:00 a.m. in World Market Center’s Building B that will cover big-picture macro trends that cause consumers to shop, think and live differently, and how that affects the future. Sphere Trending brings together macro and micro trend information and focuses on the “why” behind “what’s new.”

“Retailers need to go to these seminars to understand,” Lauer said. “Consumers are saying, ‘It takes a lot for me to buy a product. Retail is looking boring. Nothing is exciting me anymore.’ We need to learn what consumers are really expecting, because if we don’t, they’ll go to the person who does deliver what they want.”

Christine Chow, director of membership and associate director of The Color Association will be presenting a ColorWatch seminar at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, July 30 in World Market Center’s Building B co-sponsored by Vance Publishing’s Furniture Style. According to Chow, people are very enthusiastic about color trends.

“I think that one retail or one trend seminar and one color seminar is crucial to keeping yourself up to date with what is going on out there,” said Chow. “In everyday life, people seldom manage to have conversations about color. What I’ve heard is that people enjoy that I put color trends in relation to products. It really helps them understand the trends and helps them to see applications and realize interpretations of that.”

Michelle Lamb, co-founder and chairman of Marketing Directions Inc. and senior editor of The Trend Curve, will present the TrendWatch seminar on Wednesday, August 1 at 10:00 a.m. at the Sands Expo and co-sponsored by Vance’s Accessory Merchandising. She will speak about emerging styles with images from the most recent trade events, including looks fresh from the show floor in Las Vegas.

The Summer Las Vegas Market will take place July 30-August 3, 2007 at World Market Center’s Buildings A and B, the Pavilions; the temporaries will be featured at the Sands Expo opening on Tuesday, July 31.