CBA plans to announce more details this week about its new winter show to replace Advance, but the replacement event won't include an exhibit floor.

According to CBA officials, recent survey feedback as well as input from gift suppliers and retailers "has revealed a decisive lack of broad support for a tradeshow floor event in winter, including a gifts-only tradeshow option."

"Based on this clear feedback, CBA will move forward developing the new event without an exhibit floor," the booksellers' trade association said in a statement.

Meanwhile, CBA has cut several posts in light of the cancellation of Advance 2008. Five people have been laid off and two unfilled positions will not be replaced based on anticipated revenue for the financial year starting Oct. 1, said association spokesperson Nancy Guthrie.

CBA Director of Communications and Marketing Leon Wirth is understood to be among those who were let go, though CBA declined to confirm his departure or detail the other layoffs. CBA now has 27 full-time and three part-time staff.

Some gift vendors were unhappy about CBA abandoning its Advance tradeshow and lobbied the trade association for a winter showcase for their new products. Suppliers expressed their concerns in a meeting with trade association officials on the last day of CBA's International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) in Atlanta, in July.

But, in a CBA survey of exhibitors following ICRS, when asked about the association's plans to eliminate an exhibit floor for the new winter event, 68% answered: "It's a good idea to eliminate the tradeshow floor," or "It doesn't matter to me."

Only 17% of all exhibitors and only 18% of gift exhibitors indicated they prefer that the winter event have an exhibit floor, the survey revealed. Nearly 85% of gift exhibitors with more than one booth space indicated a preference for a no-exhibit floor and only 15% indicated a desire for CBA to "bring it back," according to the survey.

In a separate CBA survey, when retailer attendees were asked: "How do you feel about no longer including a tradeshow at the new winter event," 57% answered: "The tradeshow floor is unnecessary at the winter event," or "I don't care either way."

The survey discovered that only 18% responded with "bring it back." In addition, the survey found that among stores with annual sales of more than $500,000, fewer than 20% indicated a desire for an exhibit floor at the new winter event.

"Retailers and suppliers both have clearly expressed themselves, with these surveys, indicating that there is not enough interest or support from either group to justify or sustain an exhibit floor event in the winter," CBA President and CEO Bill Anderson said in a statement.

CBA said it is in discussions with AmericasMart gift show in Atlanta about the possibility of creating a CBA gift supplier pavilion at the mid-January show, an event that 27% of ICRS attendees said they're planning to attend in 2008. AmericasMart's winter event is the largest gift show in the nation, with more than 60,000 in attendance each year.

CBA announced the cancellation of Advance 2008?scheduled for Jan. 28-Feb. 1 in Indianapolis?just prior to the start of ICRS. CBA said that it would replace Advance-which had seen dwindling attendance in recent years-with a new event designed to bring Christian retailers and publishers together but at a reduced cost.

The replacement event would focus on building relationships and discussing industry issues, CBA said.

Look for a full report on CBA's plans for a new winter show in the Oct. 8 issue of Christian Retailing magazine.

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