CHAMPS Celebrates A Record Setting Crowd For Denver
The iconic show now looks forward to CHAMPS Winter Show in Vegas next Feb
Over the course of two days, CHAMPS Denver saw a record number of both brands and buyers on the show floor of the Colorado Convention Center in beautiful downtown Denver Colorado. CHAMPS welcomed well over a thousand retail buyers to the show floor who were treated with the latest and greatest products the industry has to offer.
CHAMPS is known as the premiere business to business trade show event for the industry. Even though CHAMPS Colorado is regional show in it’s nature, store buyers flocked from all over to make sure they were stocked up for the holiday rush as CHAMPS Colorado capped the 2021 show season.
Smoke shop merchandise, of course, is always the predominant product on the convention floor. In fact, that sector of the industry has been synonymous with the CHAMPS name since its founding in 1999. But with legalization sweeping the country and attitudes toward cannabis becoming more favorable, the variety of companies in attendance at all CHAMPS shows has widened to also include additional products for dispensaries. To help accommodate, CHAMPS Trade Shows looks forward to the return of the CHAMPS Dispensary+ section at CHAMPS Winter Show next February.
CHAMPS President and CEO, Jeff Hirschfeld, stated that he couldn’t be prouder to be a part of the industry. “We have not only seen our industry sustain itself through a global pandemic, but actually grow.” He continued as to why he thought that was. “That growth is directly attributed the teamwork and dedication of both brands and buyers. You look around the show floor and you see a culture of togetherness unlike anywhere else.”
CHAMPS Trade Show also is home to the CHAMPS Glass Games which saw some of the top glass artists compete for their spots in the Masters Finals at CHAMPS Winter Show. These artists competed in one of 3 games; Marbles, At The Zoo, or Goblet. Marbles saw the return of Jes Durfee as the reigning champion of both the Marbles Set and Marbles Game from CHAMPS Colorado 2019.
The competition was fierce, but in the end we saw some amazing pieces come out on top and grab cash prizes with the top winners moving on to the finals.
Without further delay here are the winners in each category!
GOBLET
1st: Rye Deyer
2nd: Jes Durfee
3rd: Thriving Lotus
AT THE ZOO
1st: CMartin Glass
2nd: Burtoni
3rd: Dellaluna
MARBLES (BEST SET)
1st: Jef Durfee
2nd: Fire Fox Glass
3rd: Cajun Rick
MARBLES (GAME)
1st: Jes Durfee
2nd: H2 Glass (H Squared)
3rd: MattZ Glass
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A massive congratulations to all of the incredible artists who participated. The winners of each category will move on to the Masters Finals and compete live on the show floor for the gold!
While we have to leave Denver for now we cannot wait to return in 2022 to the Mile High City. In the meantime, here are some of our favorite shots from around the CHAMPS Colorado Show Floor.
CHAMPS Trade Shows now looks ahead to our flagship Winter Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in beautiful Las Vegas Nevada this February 2nd – 5th. Registration will be opening within the next few weeks, so please stay tuned!
