{"id":89,"date":"2014-01-13T17:42:57","date_gmt":"2014-01-14T00:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/?p=89"},"modified":"2014-02-23T13:41:05","modified_gmt":"2014-02-23T20:41:05","slug":"first-impression-wesa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/13\/first-impression-wesa\/","title":{"rendered":"A First Impression of WESA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Western<\/a>

Denver International Western\/English Apparel & Equipment Market<\/p><\/div>\n

Passing the security check at the Denver International Western\/English Apparel & Equipment Market you enter a long hallway with permanent vendor showrooms on either side.\u00a0 Security is an important factor here because like all industry conventions and conferences, the WESA Market is open to insiders only, insiders in this case being the manufacturers and retailers.\u00a0 A rainbow of colorful badges is the first and most visible element of credentialing of those at the show.\u00a0 The lime green tags are by far the most common.\u00a0 They all read \u201cbuyer\u201d across the top.\u00a0 Vendors wear red or blue tags that are labeled \u201cexhibitor\u201d.\u00a0 There are yellow and orange tags identifying sales associates and white ones identifying staff, who are constantly scurrying around, trying to lubricate the gears that make the show run.<\/p>\n

The walls of the corridor are lined with magazine dispensers.\u00a0 At first glance the magazines can be \u201cTime\u201d, \u201cNewsweek\u201d, \u201cPeople\u201d and the like.\u00a0 But pausing to take a glace at the free to pick up publications, one realizes that the cover tends to sport a Stetson-hated cowboy and his steed.\u00a0 Titles like \u201cRodeo\u201d, \u201cWestern Horseman\u201d and \u201cAmerican Cowboy\u201d face the attendees and, upon a longer glace, there are less familiar publications such as \u201cTrue West\u201d, \u201cTack \u2018n Togs\u201d, \u201cCowboys & Indians\u201d, \u201cHorse Illustrated\u201d and \u201cBeef\u201d to be found.\u00a0 There is a momentary hesitation to reach down and pick up a copy of \u201cBeef\u201d to see what it\u2019s all about.\u00a0 On the cover is an older gentleman wearing a Stetson and a button-down shirt, riding a white appaloosa.\u00a0 Flipping the magazine open reveals articles such as \u201cBeef Crystal Ball\u201d, \u201cBad Advice\u201d and \u201cClean Green Beef\u201d.\u00a0 The ads are all, you got it, beef.\u00a0 It is, without a doubt an all beef publication.\u00a0 Probably not a mainstream publication, but there\u2019s no doubt that it has a very strong niche market.<\/p>\n

The attendees are a breed onto themselves.\u00a0 You stand out if you don\u2019t wear boots and a cowboy hat, whether you\u2019re a boy or a girl.\u00a0 Some women have high heels as if attending an evening gala and a few have ubiquitous Texas big hair.\u00a0 There\u2019s a sea of plaid and sequin shirts and jeans, ranging from well loved to brand new.\u00a0 There\u2019s a handful of suits in the crowd, all standing out like sore thumbs.\u00a0 Here, if you\u2019re not wearing cowboy duds, you\u2019re better off wearing jeans and a t-shirt or a sweater.\u00a0 Adding a big belt buckle will go a long way to helping you blend into the crowd.<\/p>\n

Visiting the vendor booths offers a distinct array of merchandise.\u00a0 There\u2019s everything here that one would need to be a well dressed cowboy and everything that one would need to have a well equipped horse.\u00a0 Other items include food and preserves, tools, a vast assortment of jewelry, purses and bags, cosmetics, animal medical supplies, paintings and western art, furniture and gifts and collectibles.\u00a0 It\u2019s the gifts and collectibles part that drew us to this show and it was everything else that made us stand back and watch in awe.<\/p>\n

[whohit]2014-01-13 A First Impression of WESA[\/whohit]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Passing the security check at the Denver International Western\/English Apparel & Equipment Market you enter a long hallway with permanent vendor showrooms on either side.\u00a0 Security is an important factor here because like all industry conventions and conferences, the WESA Market is open to insiders only, insiders in this case being the manufacturers and retailers.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4dcLB-1r","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182,"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asnaggydime.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}