Who exhibits and buys at AAPEX
AAPEX, the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo, is co-owned by the Auto Care Association and MEMA Aftermarket Suppliers, with William T. Glasgow, Inc. as event management. The organizer counts about 45,000 attendees, more than 2,500 manufacturers and suppliers, and more than 1,400 product categories across 550,000 square feet of exhibits.
Its attendee breakdown leans toward people who buy and install parts every day: 38 percent from repair shops, service chains, and dealer service or fleet operations, 25 percent retailers, 23 percent warehouse distributors and parts program groups, and 14 percent builders, fabricators, converters, fleet buyers, and others. Only business representatives of the aftermarket may attend, consumers and enthusiasts are turned away, and nobody under 16, infants included, gets onto the floor.
AAPEX and the SEMA Show: two shows in one week
AAPEX runs the same week as the SEMA Show, and the two are linked. An AAPEX registration badge opens the exhibit floors of both, and for 2026 the organizer runs a shuttle between the AAPEX Forum and SEMA at the Las Vegas Convention Center from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on show days. There's no inter-venue bus at the Venetian Expo itself, so Venetian exhibitors cross the footbridge to the Forum to catch it.
The shows are separate businesses with different floors. SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association's show, puts vehicles and specialty products at the center; AAPEX is about replacement parts, tools, service, and the systems shops run on. AAPEX 2026 is open Tuesday, November 3 through Thursday, November 5, a day shorter than SEMA's November 3 to 6. A buyer may arrive straight from the other show, so make the booth's first message clear from the aisle.
Venetian Expo, the AAPEX Forum, and which building you're in
For 2026, AAPEX fills the Venetian Expo at 201 Sands Avenue and Caesars Forum at 3911 Koval Lane, which the show calls the AAPEX Forum and describes as a short footbridge walk from the Venetian. Booths numbered V100 to V8900 and V19000 to V23500 are at the Venetian; F9000 to F18000 are at the Forum.
Product category sets the building. The Forum holds the Accessories/Lighting and Undercar sections. The Venetian's Level 1 has the international pavilions and international sourcing, and Level 2 has the rest: tools and equipment, paint and body, underhood, diagnostics and shop systems, electric vehicles, remanufacturing, tire servicing, and the Joe's Garage section. The exhibit hall is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each show day, and exhibitors can enter from 7 a.m.
The buildings handle services differently, too. At the Venetian the hall isn't carpeted, so booth flooring is mandatory, and the venue is the exclusive provider of electrical, internet, plumbing, booth cleaning, food, rigging labor, and truss and motors. The Forum ballrooms are already carpeted, the venue there holds catering, compressed air, electrical, and internet, and Encore runs the rigging portal.
AAPEX height limits, hanging signs, and display rules
The 2026 display rules apply in both buildings. The points that most often change a design:
- Linear booths are capped at 8 feet, and display fixtures taller than 4 feet within 10 feet of a neighbor must stay in the back 5 feet of the space
- Peninsulas and islands start at 20 by 20 feet and can reach 20 feet with written approval from event management at least 60 days before the show; on the Venetian's Level 1 (booths V19000 to V23000) the limit is 12 feet, and its 12-foot ceiling rules out double-decks
- Hanging signs are for peninsulas and islands only, up to 24 feet with written approval 60 days ahead, no longer on any side than half the booth's matching dimension, and set back 10 feet from a peninsula's back wall; Level 1 needs the Venetian Expo's written permission
- Peninsula back walls carry no copy or logos and step down to 4 feet for the 5 feet nearest each side aisle, and back-to-back peninsulas can't build the back wall all the way across
- Double-decks and booths over 7,500 square feet need permits from Clark County Building & Fire Prevention, with an architect package stamped by a structural engineer; anything over 14 feet needs drawings on site
- Sound is capped at 85 decibels, booth sharing and subletting are banned, and drones, hoverboards, scooters, and helium balloons aren't allowed
Designing an AAPEX booth for parts, tools, and line reviews
Most AAPEX exhibits sell things a buyer can pick up: filters, brake parts, lighting, tools, chemicals, diagnostic hardware. Product walls with fixtures sized to the real SKUs, cutaways that show what's inside a part, and counters where a buyer can compare lines side by side do more selling than a big logo. Under the 2026 rules, the products in the booth must be ones you make, represent, or exclusively distribute, and a distributor needs a letter of appointment from the manufacturer.
Plan the meeting side as carefully as the display. Retail chains, warehouse distributors, and program groups come to talk line reviews and programs, so a semi-private table area or an enclosed room set back from the aisle earns its space. Orders are for future delivery only, with nothing sold off the floor, and a demonstration can't use or reference a competitor's product. Keep loud tool demos away from neighbors: event management can cut power to a booth that exceeds the sound limit.
Showing a vehicle in an AAPEX booth
Vehicles can go only in peninsula and island booths, and each one needs a vehicle display permit from the Clark County Fire Marshal. The 2026 vehicle entry form was due October 2, and applying later than three weeks before move-in risks higher permit fees or the vehicle being turned away. On the floor, fuel is limited to a quarter tank or 5 gallons, whichever is less, with the filler cap locked or sealed, batteries disconnected, no leaks, 36 inches of clear space around the vehicle, and at least 20 feet to any exit.
In a parts booth, the car or truck is usually there to show product installed, so design the platform and lighting around the part rather than the paint. External chargers are recommended for demonstrations. And every exhibit has to stand on its own: nothing can be bolted, screwed, nailed, or stuck to the hall's walls, floor, or pillars, or hung from the pipe-and-drape dividers.
AAPEX move-in, freight, and union labor
Move-in for 2026 opens in stages. The Venetian's Halls A and G start at 1 p.m. on Thursday, October 29, the rest of the building follows through the weekend, and the Forum's Summit and Forum ballrooms open at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 30. Each exhibitor gets a freight target time, and missing it brings a 15 percent handling surcharge. Booths must be set by 3 p.m. on Monday, November 2, and the hall closes to installers at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. at the Forum) so aisle carpet can go down. Nothing comes down before 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 5, and everything is out by noon on Saturday, November 7, or by noon Friday in Hall D and the Venetian Ballroom.
Freeman handles freight, with an advance warehouse at 6675 W Sunset Road that took crated shipments from September 23 and charged extra after October 15, direct deliveries on assigned days, and a marshaling yard at 6555 W Serene Avenue where every truck checks in. Teamsters Local 631 installs and dismantles exhibits unless the exhibitor's own full-time employees do the work, and handles all unloading and forklift work. An outside builder files the show's exhibitor-appointed contractor form for each client (due September 25 in 2026) with an original insurance certificate, and its crew picks up a daily pass each move-in day.
An AAPEX planning timeline for 2027
AAPEX 2026 opens November 3 and its deadlines have passed, so most new custom builds now aim at AAPEX 2027, which the organizer lists for November 2 to 4, 2027. As general guidance, using the 2026 deadlines for reference: the guide to what a custom booth costs helps set the budget, our trade show checklist covers the smaller tasks, and the Las Vegas trade show calendar tracks SEMA week with the rest of the season.
- Spring and early summer: confirm your space, product section, and building, then brief your builder
- Summer: concept and 3D design, renderings to event management early, and written approval at least 60 days out for tall peninsula or island structures and hanging signs
- Late September: exhibitor-appointed contractor forms and badge registration (September 25 in 2026), with the advance warehouse open
- Early October: vehicle permits, Freeman and Venetian service orders (October 1 and 6 in 2026), and freight at the warehouse by mid-October
- Late October: targeted move-in, with the booth set by the Monday afternoon before opening