— Furniture Today,
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — Government officials and furniture makers hope a new furniture show will help


reinvigorate the local industry, and the broader economy, in this Central American country.

The show, called Expo Mueble Honduras 2013, is set for Oct. 4-6 at the Expocentro convention center in San Pedro Sula.

The show will feature about 50 Honduras-based manufacturers, including seven larger companies that either produce or have produced goods for companies such as Hooker, Lexington Home Brands, Hammary, Drexel Heritage, Lane, American Drew and Pennsylvania House. 

They will offer wood, metal, wicker, cast iron, leather and plastic indoor residential, kitchen, youth and office furniture.

There also will be 10 to 15 medium-sized companies, with the balance being smaller manufacturers, said Chris Mellage, president of lead show organizer ANETRAMA, or the National Assn. of Transforming Wood Companies.

Mellage said his group and others have been working on the debut show since last November. A key goal is to introduce buyers to the talents of Honduras manufacturers and help restore some of the market share lost to China since the late ’90s.

In 2012, Honduras ranked No. 41 on Furniture/Today’s list of U.S. furniture source countries. Its residential furniture shipments to the United States totaled $6.8 million, more than 10 times the $645,000 it sent in 2004.