Portland trade show canceled over coronavirus concerns

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - A big event at the Oregon Convention Center has been canceled by organizers due to concern regarding the coronavirus.

The Northwest Materials Show was expected to attract thousands of footwear buyers from major companies on the West Coast, including Nike Adidas, and Columbia Sportswear.

It was scheduled to start a week from Wednesday, but the threat of the coronavirus outbreak caused organizers to pull the plug.

Currently, there are no known cases of coronavirus in Oregon.

Event organizers say the event brings in some 300 vendors, some from China, and more than 2,500 buyers. The shows vendors bring in raw footwear materials for businesses like Nike to look at for use in their show designs.

Organizers decided on Wednesday to cancel the show due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and people traveling from China.

The organizers say the coronavirus is already starting to impact businesses in the northwest.

“A lot of it depends on our show, you know,” Hisham Muhareb said. “People making decisions. I’m going to pick this color, this material to go with this particular shoe. So, manufacturing is affected, deliveries and everything is up in the air.”

Show organizers say they will have an event in late July and may have to make that one bigger because of this cancellation.