The Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition, the world’s largest e-commerce trade show, will remain at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago through 2020. The announcement of the 6-year deal comes as IRCE 2013 wraps up today with post-conference workshops.

This year’s show drew more than 9,500 attendees and 600 exhibitors—a 12% year-over-year increase in both cases—according to George Little Management. The company, known as GLM, last year bought IRCE, the Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference and the Internet Retailer Mobile Marketing & Commerce Forum from Vertical Web Media. That company publishes Internet Retailer magazine, the Top 500 Guide and related research and rankings; its editors continue to help shape content for IRCE.

“In the last few years, Chicago has evolved into a hub of technology, with some of the largest tech companies in the world located in this city,” says Craig Dooley, senior vice president, GLM and group show director, IR Events Group, which owns and operates IRCE. “IRCE has thrived every year it has taken place in Chicago, and we are thrilled to call this our home through the end of the decade.”

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel backs a plan that would lead to the construction of a facility that would serve small- and mid-sized conferences; GLM and the mayor said IRCE might be interested in using that new convention center.

IRCE’s deal to stay in Chicago comes amid a push by local officials to attract more technology companies to the city, Emanuel says. “The fact that the largest e-commerce show in the world is locating here through 2020 is direct testament to the city’s leadership in this field,” he says. “I look forward to hosting IRCE and [its] guests, and the strong economic impact that the show brings.”

IRCE launched in 2005. The show also has taken place in San Jose, Boston and San Diego. IRCE returned to Chicago in 2012 and had previously agreed to remain at McCormick Place through 2014.

 

 

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