History of the Show
In January 1964, the first Kitchen/Bath Industry Show (K/BIS) was held by the Association of Kitchen and Bath Dealers (AIKD). The first show appeared in a corner of the exhibit space of the Middle-Atlantic Lumbermen's show at the Sheraton-Park Hotel in Philadelphia from January 28-30, 1964. There were approximately 24 exhibitors, mainly custom cabinet manufacturers, and registration was nearly 250 attendees.
In 1965, and for the next 11 shows, the show itself ran for three days for trade members and two more days for consumers. Beginning in 1975, the show became trade only and shows were scheduled for only three days. Growth of the Association and its committees and councils allowed for the convention/conference to move to four days in 1980.
In the early years, shows were separate from the annual conventions/conference. The convention would include a board meeting and election, and a general membership meeting was held in conjunction with the show. In order to better suit the membership and governance structure, it became more feasible to combine the annual convention with the show.
In 1973, show management was turned over to the trade show division of Gralla Publications. It then joined with Gralla's Apartment Builder/Developer Conference and Exposition and became the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show and National Kitchen and Bath Conference.
Due to most of the membership being east of the Mississippi, most shows were held in the east. In 1985, in order to meet the needs of west coast membership, the NKBA and Gralla launched KBIS-West, which was held in Long Beach, California, with exhibits and seminars mirroring K/BIS.
Today, K/BIS draws more than 40,000 industry professionals in addition to exhibitor personnel and national press.