In Age Of E-Commerce, Atlanta International Gift And Home Furnishings Market Still Relevant

For more than five decades, Atlanta’s AmericasMart has been the biggest thing that Atlantans will never see.

Jim Burress / WABE

As happens twice a year, some 90,000 people have converged downtown for the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market at AmericasMart.

It’s where manufacturers and wholesalers compete to get their products into retail stores near you. And even in the era of e-commerce, “the market,” as it’s called, still matters.

This pillow, right, is a favorite of Lydia Pomey, who’s been an exhibitor at AmericasMart for 25 years. She says being able to touch and demonstrate a product with buyers is essential to her business. (Jim Burress/WABE)

When famed Atlanta architect John Portman opened AmericasMart in 1957, he described it as a department store for retailers. It’s also been called “the place where you go to shop goes to shop.”