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Bob Maricich

Robert (Bob) Maricich is the Chairman and CEO of ANDMORE – formerly International Market Centers (IMC) – the premier omnichannel wholesale marketmaker for the gift, home furnishings and apparel industries.

Maricich was instrumental in envisioning and developing the strategy for the creation of International Market Centers, L.P. In 2011, he founded IMC with sponsors Bain Capital and Oaktree Capital Management raising more than $1B to fund the purchase of the International Home Furnishings Center, the ShowPlace properties, and the Market Square properties in High Point, NC, and merging them with the World Market Center in Las Vegas to form the world’s largest operator of premier permanent showroom and tradeshow space for the furnishings, home décor, and gift industries. During the next five years IMC built or purchased five additional buildings in High Point, NC, bringing their total to 17 buildings.

In 2017, Maricich led IMC’s transition to new ownership by Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms, and Fireside Investments. In 2018 he directed IMC’s acquisitions of AmericasMart in Atlanta, GA, and the subsequent acquisition of the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC), creating a compelling portfolio spanning the east and west coasts of the United States that now encompasses more than 22 million square feet of world-class B2B exhibition space. With the AmericasMart aquisiton, IMC also became the owner and operator of the Atlanta Convetion Center at AmericasMart which hosts dozens of outside events, meetings and conferences each year. In 2020, despite the Covid shutdown, IMC constructed the 315,000 sf Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas, addressing the lack of downtown Las Vegas exhibit space. In 2022, IMC acquired luxury tradeshow Shoppe Object and has since expanded it dramatically. In 2023, IMC rebranded to ANDMORE repositioning the company as a fully omnichannel marketmaker utilizing digital tools to extend the value of physical markets and fuel year-round opportunities for buyers and sellers to connect and grow.

Under Maricich’s leadership, ANDMORE serves more than 350,000 global wholesale buyers through its physical markets, design centers and digital channels. It presents some 29 apparel, furniture, gift, home décor and lifestyle markets and buying events – in permanent showroom space and trade show exhibits – in Atlanta; High Point, NC; Las Vegas; and New York. Some 2,200+ exhibitors showcase their products in permanent showroom spaces. It brings in an additional 7,000+ temporary exhibitors in 2 million sf of trade show exhibit space each year. It serves the design trade year-round through showroom offerings and programming at ADAC, AmericasMart and the Las Vegas Design Center. Additionally, it offers digital innovations that optimize the physical market experience.

Maricich joined World Market Center as CEO in January 2008. Prior to that, he spent 11 years as CEO of Century Furniture Industries, a leading luxury furniture manufacturer. From 1989-1996 Maricich was President and CEO of American Drew Furniture and American of Martinsville, at the time the largest manufacturer of furniture for the hospitality industry. Additionally, he was an executive with Flexsteel Industries, R.S Bacon Veneer Company and Texaco.

Maricich has been an active board member for numerous charitable organizations including City of Hope, Opportunity Village, and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

In 2015 the Anti Defamation League honored Maricich with the American Heritage Award. In 2016 he was honored as Man of the Year by the Tri-State Home Furnishings Association. In 2017, Maricich received the American Heritage Distinguished Service Award from the American Home Furnishings Alliance. In 2019, he was named a Furniture Industry Icon by the International Home Furnishings Representatives Association. Marcich was listed among The Atlantan Magazine’s 25 Most Influential People in Atlanta, and also was included in Atlanta Magazine’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders in Georgia. In 2021, Maricich was inducted into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame, the industry’s highest honor.

Maricich is a graduate of Montana State University with a degree in Civil Engineering. He and his wife, Ande, have been married for 50 years and have three grown sons. He especially enjoys his lifelong passion for fly-fishing.  The Maricich’s reside in Key Largo, FL, and Kennebunkport, ME.

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International Market Centers (IMC) expands its apparel, furniture, gift and home décor market calendar in 2022 to 26 markets and buying events presented in Atlanta, High Point, NC and Las Vegas.

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Atlanta / High Point, N.C / Las Vegas – February 3, 2021 – International Market Centers (IMC) today announced the hiring of Monique Honaman as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), joining IMC’s Executive Leadership Team with responsibility for all aspects of Human Resources strategy. Reporting directly to IMC CEO Bob Maricich, she will work closely with the Executive Leadership Team to ensure IMC continues to build a culture that attracts, retains and develops top talent.

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CHANTILLY, VA., (March 18, 2020) – Signaling its commitment to digital growth, IMC_di, the new digital innovation division of International Market Centers (IMC), announces more than a dozen recent hires including new staff for development, implementation, marketing and customer success. “IMC is not slowing down. We are accelerating our investment in digital,” said Bob Maricich, chief executive officer for IMC. “With COVID-19 causing postponement of our March and April markets in Atlanta and High Point, we are taking aggressive steps to digitally connect buyers and sellers – wherever and whenever they need to meet to do business.” “We are in exponential growth mode during a time of unprecedented global business disruption,” said IMC_di President Eric Dean. “This first wave of new hires – just two months after our launch – puts experienced professionals into key positions and increases our depth of skills across the entire organization.” IMC_di welcomes Marisa Garcia as Senior Director of Customer Success, with responsibility for building and managing a team that delivers a world class customer experience for both sellers and buyers. Garcia brings 10 years of retail engagement and e-commerce strategy experience to her role, most recently working with Scout & Molly’s, a fashion retailer with 50 locations in 19 states, and JOOR, a wholesale platform and data exchange connecting 8,600 fashion, beauty and home brands with 200,000 retailers across 144 countries. Andrew Meeks joins IMC_di as Director of Marketing, with responsibility for developing a strategic vision and marketing plan for the company’s software platforms. Meeks brings 20 years of tactical and strategic marketing experience for a diverse range of regional and national companies including information and medical technology, legal, heavy industrial and telecommunications. Most recently, as Marketing Director of Marketing Help Atlanta, he packaged his marketing and design skill set into a retained services model for regional B2C and B2B companies. In addition to full-time staff, IMC_di has retained retailer Mary S. Moore, owner of the Atlantabased Cook’s Warehouse stores, as a consultant. In this role, Moore will provide executive-level direction and strategic visioning with a specific focus on the retailer experience. With 25+ years retail experience, Moore understands and appreciates the relationship between markets, vendors, sales representatives and retailers. She also has been in e-commerce for more than 13 years and developed an app allowing people to find foods based on diets, allergies and cuisine preferences. Another nine staff will support IMC_di’s programming, development and customer support needs. Working from IMC_di’s office in Juno Beach, FL, newly staffed positions include Back End Developer, Front End Developer, Application Developer, Enterprise Architect, Product Manager, Project Management Office Lead, Tech Lead and Quality Engineer. New hires in IMC_di’s Chantilly, VA, office will increase capacity and capabilities in development, user experience, sales and marketing, customer success and onboarding. With these latest hires, the IMC_di staff now numbers approaches 60. The company will continue to hire aggressively for technology and customer facing positions, with another 30-40 hires planned in the near term. Details about career opportunities in IMC_di’s offices in Juno Beach, FL, and Chantilly, VA, are available online at https://www.andmore.com/careers-at-imc/. About IMC_di: IMC Digital Innovations (IMC_di) is a stand-alone division of International Market Centers (IMC), the world’s largest operator of premier showroom space for the home furnishings, gift, and apparel industries. Launched in January 2020, IMC_di will build an industry-changing platform including a global B2B e-commerce marketplace, a full suite of integrated marketing and sales automation software and smart showroom tools. With bold people and bold ambitions — and by investing as much as $100 million — IMC_di will change and grow the industries IMC serves. # # # Press Contact: Cathy Steel, (203) 340-9251, cathysteel@cathysteelassociates.com

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