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Instore Buys JA New York Show
The deal closed this week, which means Instore will produce the JA NY show slated to take place this fall.
A photo from the spring 2024 edition of the JA New York show. The jewelry trade show, now owned by Instore, is held twice a year at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. (Photo credit: Lucas Botz Photography)
Montclair, N.J.—Instore announced this week that it has acquired the JA New York show from Emerald Holding Inc., the company that owns the Couture show, among others.
The deal, which combines a well-known jewelry trade publication with a jewelry trade show that’s been around for more than a century, closed Tuesday.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
JA New York produces two shows a year at the Javits Center in New York City: a fall edition in October and a spring show in March.
In an interview with National Jeweler, SmartWork Media CEO and Instore Publisher Matthijs Braakman said Instore plans to keep both and wants to emphasize what makes each show unique.
“There’s a clear difference between the two shows,” he said.
“The spring show is focused a lot on new designs and new ideas, the early spring introduction of new lines. Fall has always been focused on special delivery, on restocking for fourth-quarter sales.”
JA New York also had a summer show that, for years, took place in July, but pulled the plug after the 2022 edition.
Braakman said there are no plans to revive JA New York summer.
“The summer show defined JA for years. That was the show but then obviously things changed ... JCK [Las Vegas] exists in the summer and the JA NY Summer show kind of lost its momentum.”
He also said that in light of the JA New York acquisition, Instore will no longer produce its own show.
Instore operated the Smart Jewelry Show until 2016, then “took a pause” from producing trade shows until the creation of The Instore Show, which launched in August 2023, Braakman said.
The last Instore Show was held in October 2025.
Braakman said plans were underway to have another show in 2026, but then the company began having more “active conversations” with Emerald about acquiring JA New York.
“When it was clear we were going to be able to come to an agreement, we decided to move away from producing an Instore show in Chicago,” he said.
As part of the acquisition, Tobi Smith, who has been with JA New York for 33 years, will join the Instore team as the show’s account executive.
“My love of the jewelry industry began on 47th Street, and it only deepened when I joined this wonderful event. Thirty-three years later, I could not be more thrilled, or more eager, to work alongside this incredible team,” Smith said in the announcement about the acquisition.
“Instore truly understands this crazy, beautiful business. They bring not only expertise, but genuine compassion for the people and businesses they serve. Our goal is success for everyone, achieved together, and we intend to have a great deal of fun getting there.”
Related stories will be right here …
The deal, which combines a well-known jewelry trade publication with a jewelry trade show that’s been around for more than a century, closed Tuesday.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
JA New York produces two shows a year at the Javits Center in New York City: a fall edition in October and a spring show in March.
In an interview with National Jeweler, SmartWork Media CEO and Instore Publisher Matthijs Braakman said Instore plans to keep both and wants to emphasize what makes each show unique.
“There’s a clear difference between the two shows,” he said.
“The spring show is focused a lot on new designs and new ideas, the early spring introduction of new lines. Fall has always been focused on special delivery, on restocking for fourth-quarter sales.”
JA New York also had a summer show that, for years, took place in July, but pulled the plug after the 2022 edition.
Braakman said there are no plans to revive JA New York summer.
“The summer show defined JA for years. That was the show but then obviously things changed ... JCK [Las Vegas] exists in the summer and the JA NY Summer show kind of lost its momentum.”
He also said that in light of the JA New York acquisition, Instore will no longer produce its own show.
Instore operated the Smart Jewelry Show until 2016, then “took a pause” from producing trade shows until the creation of The Instore Show, which launched in August 2023, Braakman said.
The last Instore Show was held in October 2025.
Braakman said plans were underway to have another show in 2026, but then the company began having more “active conversations” with Emerald about acquiring JA New York.
“When it was clear we were going to be able to come to an agreement, we decided to move away from producing an Instore show in Chicago,” he said.
As part of the acquisition, Tobi Smith, who has been with JA New York for 33 years, will join the Instore team as the show’s account executive.
“My love of the jewelry industry began on 47th Street, and it only deepened when I joined this wonderful event. Thirty-three years later, I could not be more thrilled, or more eager, to work alongside this incredible team,” Smith said in the announcement about the acquisition.
“Instore truly understands this crazy, beautiful business. They bring not only expertise, but genuine compassion for the people and businesses they serve. Our goal is success for everyone, achieved together, and we intend to have a great deal of fun getting there.”
The announcement that Emerald has offloaded JA New York comes on the heels of news that the trade show company is slated to have a new owner.
Earlier this month, private equity firm Apollo announced that Apollo Funds has agreed to acquire Emerald and another operator of business-to-business trade shows, Questex LLC.
The all-cash transaction values Emerald at approximately $1.5 billion and means the company, which is currently traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol EEX, will go private.
Emerald’s portfolio includes Couture in Las Vegas, the new Couture show in Coconut Grove, Florida, and the antique jewelry shows that take place in Las Vegas and Miami.
The company also used to produce NY Now, the gift, home, lifestyle, and accessories show that included fine jewelry, but sold NY Now to a company called Rockview Management Group in April.
Emerald is owned by Toronto-based private equity firm Onex Corp.
Onex bought Nielsen Expositions—the trade show arm of Nielsen, the TV ratings company—in 2013 for $950 million in cash consideration and created a new company, then called Emerald Expositions.
Questex produces shows in the healthcare, entertainment, real estate, hospitality, food and beverage, and travel industries, among others.
Apollo plans to merge Emerald and Questex to create “a leading North American B2B experiential events and media platform” that produces about 160 events across a variety of markets.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026 and is subject to regulatory approvals.
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