AmericasMart Atlanta’s global wholesale trade operations have set new all-time performance records in an exhaustive independent study of the 7.1-million-square-foot trade mart/trade show complex’s impact on the local and regional economy, according to Jeffrey L. Portman, Sr., vice chairman, president and chief operating officer. 

The study—entitled The Economic Impact of AmericasMart Atlanta—was designed, executed and reported by Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies associate dean Sally Wallace and economics professor David L. Sjoquist. The landmark research documents AmericasMart’s performance over the 12-month period ending August 31, 2014, its most recent reporting period. The 2014 study follows previous studies measuring comparable performance metrics in 2005, 2001 and 1996.

Key findings of the new study show that AmericasMart:

• Contributed $560.9 million to the Atlanta economy, an increase of 17.3% over its 2005 contribution.
• Generated $198.0 million in total income for the Atlanta economy.
• Created 6,817 jobs for the Atlanta economy.
• Generated 556,000 hotel room-night occupancies.
• Increased local government revenue by $19.2 million.
• Increased state revenue by $20.2 million.
• Brought more than 400,000 people to Atlanta to attend its 14 annual markets and daily operations.

AmericasMart Atlanta is a preferred destination for wholesale trade. It houses the world’s single-largest collection of home furnishings, rug, gift and apparel merchandise. More wholesale buyers and sellers from more places do business at AmericasMart than any U.S. marketplace. From its 1961 inception, AmericasMart has grown to encompass a product mix spanning more than 130 distinct categories of merchandise attracting buyers from across the retail and design landscape.

“AmericasMart and Atlanta have grown up together on the world stage,” notes Portman. “For almost 60 years we’ve looked with great pride upon the city we’ve helped to build. Our calling today, just as it was at inception, is to create a global trade franchise that will help advance Atlanta’s reach as an international business capital and extend Georgia’s influence in the world economy,” Portman adds.

The Economic Impact of AmericasMart Atlanta study was conducted over a six-month period using documentation provided to its authors by AmericasMart Atlanta. All results and conclusions reported in the study are independently published and reported to AmericasMart by the researchers.