Ideas Abound
The innovative Home & Design Idea Center opens its doors this monthImagine walking into one building and finding everything you need to renovate and redecorate your home — and in a no-pressure environment. The Home & Design Idea Center is just that place. Debuting this month, the Home & Design Idea Center will feature more than 200 displays of home-related products and services in an upscale, professional environment in North Scottsdale. Guests will be able to visit the Idea Center seven days a week, year-round, for endless inspirations for their homes. By Kasia Marciszewska “The Home & Design Idea Center is a tremendous opportunity for businesses to market their products to consumers and members of the trade in a venue unparalleled by anything in existence today,” says Sheri King, sales director for the Idea Center. The concept behind the Idea Center has been successful throughout Australia and Europe, and now AZ Big Media is bringing a new take on this exciting venture to the Valley. For the past 18 years, AZ Big Media has hosted the Arizona Home & Building Expo, and recognizes the amazing opportunities the Idea Center will bring. “It’s a great, upscale complement to our home shows; 365 days a year visitors can shop at their convenience in a very relaxed atmosphere,” says Michael Atkinson, president of AZ Big Media, which owns the Home & Design Idea Center and publishes several magazines, including Scottsdale Home & Design magazine and Arizona Business Magazine. Here’s how it works: Visitors are greeted and registered at the reception counter and issued a hand-held scanner. Visitors’ demographic information is recorded and transferred electronically to a central database. Every booth in the Idea Center has its own unique bar code number that is used to identify it. When visitors scan this bar code, it generates and records company information. All this is done without the help of any onsite sales staff. Instead, visitors are encouraged to explore the Idea Center at their leisure. When visitors are ready to leave, a Home & Design Idea Center staff member completes their checkout. On their way out, visitors are given product bags filled with marketing material from each booth they scanned. At the end of each business day, a report is generated and sent to exhibitors, allowing them to view details about the visitors that have scanned their products. Information is strictly confidential and seen only by the exhibitor and Home & Design Idea Center personnel. These leads are available to exhibitors through fax or e-mail. This system allows visitors to take their time looking at more detailed information about what they’re interested in without any sales pressure, while the businesses at the Center get qualified sales leads. “We now conduct business in a new economic world and the Home & Design Idea Center offers a different way to do the same thing, with better results. Consumers should be thrilled with the affluent collection of exhibitors and the low-pressure sales environment, affording them privacy and the advantage of exploring at their own pace,” King says. Home & Design Idea Center tenant Andy Phillips, CEO of Arizona Mist Systems, is excited about this approach and the clientele that will visit the center. With this concept, he hopes to “brand my name a little bit more” and would like to “get two leads a month, three is gravy for me.” The location of the Idea Center was specifically chosen for its close proximity to Arizona’s most affluent and growing new home area. The statistics speak for themselves: 55.3 percent of homes in the area are valued at $300,000 and above, and the estimated median household net worth is more than $1 million. These high-end demographics target the niche audience the Home & Design Idea Center is geared toward. It is also something that “distinguishes us from our competitors,” Atkinson says. Exhibitors couldn’t agree more. “The reason I’m going in the Idea Center versus the competition is their upscale position and the way they’re going about everything. It’s more suited for the sophisticated buyer,” says Mike Daniels, owner and president of Legacy Custom Building & Remodeling. The design-build residential remodeling company found just what it was looking for with the Home & Idea Center. It is an “awesome location and the right kind of exposure for a company like Legacy,” Daniels says. With more than 40,000 square feet of showroom space, the amenities at the Idea Center are plentiful. Conference rooms and office facilities with satellite office accessibility are available to exhibitors, in addition to computers, fax, copiers and Internet access. Home improvement seminars and events will be hosted monthly to continually educate consumers about the home building and remodeling market. With no onsite staffing requirements, seven-days-a week availability and a cafe on the premises, the Idea Center is the perfect environment for both visitors and tenants. “If one is in the process of building, remodeling or redecorating, the Home & Design Idea Center can be their single resource for locating any product or service necessary to fulfill the requirements needed to complete any project large or small,” says David Silver, sales director for the Idea Center. The Home & Design Idea Center in Scottsdale is just the beginning for this pioneering enterprise. Locations in the East Valley and Tucson are anticipated in the future. For more information visit
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