" This event is a total sham. We participated in this event twice in 2018. once in DC last May and a second time in Boston in September. Both times they were extremely unorganized and lacking in marketing materials. The event attendance was extremely low. The worst I’ve ever experienced at any event. We have been participating in retail events of this nature for over 10 years and have never paid so much for such little square footage of booth space to receive such little value. When we expressed our concerns to the show organizers as they asked for our feedback, we were quickly dismissed and given excuse after excuse as to why perhaps our experience and low sales were such. Because we had so much downtime due to low traffic, I, the owner of my company, had the time to talk to all of the vendors individually throughout the show hours (as there weren’t many vendors either). Over 80% of the vendors expressed disappointment and mentioned that the owner had completely changed his staff and it seemed to them that perhaps the event was declining in attendance and not performing as it had in years past. Whenever an AF recruiter approached me to purchase booth space back in January 2018 I was very hesitant as I heard mixed reviews from past vendors. When I expressed my concerns about applying they were very quick to make every guarantee possible to get me to sign up for three events. THREE. The third event I signed up for was for DC during their holiday market this past December. After low sales at DC and Boston markets in spring and fall due to poor attendance and marketing, I politely asked for a refund of my deposit for the 3rd event. I was promised a refund after the new year in 2019. I have contacted Mark Bollman himself and his team over five times via email and phone and was even told by him in an email that if I am not patient then I will not receive a refund at all. I was told that these things take time and that I should be grateful that I’m even getting a refund. Last I checked it’s pretty simple to process a refund. It’s a matter of clicking a few buttons. It’s been nearly 5 months since we were promised a refund and have yet to receive it. We paid thousands of dollars to this company for a product that we did not receive. They have been unhelpful with logistics and very dismissive of their vendors. And they in fact do not sell all 100% American made products at their events. Because they were Low on vendor applications, they had companies selling window treatments and boutiques selling fast fashion products made in China. They are not who they say they are and it is a disservice to small businesses that they prey upon. "