Your trade show booth for Chicago, designed in-house and built in the United States by our production partners, then installed at McCormick Place, Rosemont or Navy Pier under our own project manager. One point of contact, from exhibitor manual to move-out.
Quote within 48 h · Built in the US · No ocean freight, no customs, no ATA carnet
McCormick Place alone offers 2.6 million sq ft of exhibit space (about 241,500 m²) and hosts flagships such as PACK EXPO International, RSNA and ProMat. Your booth is judged from the aisle in seconds and built under strict union labor rules.
South Hall A alone covers 840,000 sq ft. Buyers walk long aisles and stop only where a booth tells them, from a distance, why it matters.
Union labor is charged by the hour, with a 4-hour call minimum for carpenters, riggers and Teamsters and higher overtime rates. Every unplanned hour on site eats your budget.
At McCormick Place, Illinois law lets your own full-time staff (employed 6 months or more) build your booth, but those rights cannot be transferred to a contractor. Ignore that, or ship crates before move-in day, and your build-up is at risk.
We run your project end to end: our own design office draws your Chicago booth, which is then built in the United States by our US production partners, assembled and photographed before it leaves for the hall, then installed by union show labor under our own project manager. Drayage, labor orders and approvals are handled: one partner for the whole exhibition stand project.
Every format is available for your Chicago show: custom stands, modular stands, double-decker stands and event stands.
“McCormick Place rewards preparation. Clients want to see their booth finished before it reaches the hall, and to know the labor budget before the show, not after. So every booth is assembled and photographed first, and our project manager stays with the crews from move-in to move-out.”
François Sire
Founder of TheStandExperts, stand builder for 20 years
One team, one contract and one project manager from first call to storage. Here is what is included for your Chicago show.
Your only job: tell us what you want to achieve in Chicago.
Design, US manufacturing, freight, union labor, approvals and storage are on us.
Rosemont, Navy Pier and downtown hotels have their own docks, doors and rules. Every project starts from your show’s exhibitor manual, wherever you exhibit in the US. Exhibiting at PACK EXPO? Read our PACK EXPO International guide.
Show dates checked on September 30, 2026 on the organizers’ websites.
Four quick questions on your venue, floor space, show calendar and priority, and you get the format that fits. No personal data required.
4 questions, one recommendation for your venue and budget
Format drives the budget far more than the city. Here are our ranges for Chicago shows, built in the US, so no ocean freight or customs line. Union labor and drayage appear as separate lines. Full breakdown in our guide to exhibition stand costs.
Indicative ranges for a Chicago trade show, excluding floor space and venue services. Union labor and drayage differ by venue and are quoted separately (McCormick Place carpenter wage and fringe cost: $99.22 an hour at straight time, 4-hour minimum, as of January 31, 2026).
Your booth is assembled and photographed by our US production partners before it ships. What you approved is what the crews install.
A booth designed for fast assembly needs fewer billed hours. Every component is engineered for a quick, clean install, and you get the labor estimate before move-in.
Built in the US and trucked to the advance warehouse: no container schedule, no customs clearance and no ATA carnet between approval and opening day.
AHR Expo is in Chicago in January 2027, then Orlando in February 2028: the same booth can be stored and reconfigured between the two.
A method refined over 20 years and adapted to McCormick Place labor and freight rules. Still choosing your floor space? Read how to choose the best stand location.
Brief & exhibitor manual
Objectives, budget, floor space and the show’s labor, freight and approval deadlines.
3D design
Validated with you, sized for your hall’s ceiling heights and fire rules.
US manufacturing
Built by our US production partners, assembled and photographed for your approval.
Build-up at McCormick Place
Advance warehouse, union crews ordered by trade, build-up supervised by our project manager.
Show & move-out
On-call support, dismantling, outbound paperwork and storage if needed.
Chicago is one stop on the US calendar. Our design office, our US production partners and the same project manager follow your booth wherever your next show takes place.
In any US city, a single project manager takes your booth from the first custom stand sketch to move-out, as a turnkey exhibition stand service.
Three projects delivered turnkey at major European trade shows. Browse all our projects.
Custom stand for the world’s largest rail industry event: curved architecture, a backlit ALSTOM arch, meeting areas and interactive terminals.
Designed for business meetings at scale
Wood and orange accents in Nemera’s colors, display cases by segment, demo counters and meeting areas.
Products and meetings in one space
Open, luminous stand with large brand visuals, suspended signage and advice areas on road safety and new mobility.
Open and welcoming to the public
From reusable modular booths to double-deckers, we design the format that fits your goal and budget.
Architecture designed around your brand and your products.
Reconfigurable from one show to the next, the lowest cost per show.
A second level for meetings, on the same footprint.
Scenography and activations that draw the aisle in.
With a broker, nobody who designed your booth answers for how it is built. We design every booth in-house and have it built by US partners we coordinate directly, then check it assembled before it goes to the hall.
François founded TheStandExperts in 2006 and has spent 20 years designing booths for international trade shows, from Paris to Berlin.
★★★★★
“I had the opportunity to work with The Stand Experts on a 60 sqm stand. We were delighted with the result. […] Excellent value for money. Very friendly team, from the designer to the joiner.”
Aurore Vilette
3Shape
Translated from French
★★★★★
“Beyond the first sketches, we are always amazed by the final result and its quality of execution.”
Guillaume
Corporate Communications, MACIF
Translated from French
★★★★★
“[…] attention to detail and full ownership of every aspect so nothing gets forgotten. […] The result exceeded our expectations and we highly recommend them.”
Hubert Maitre
AFISB
Translated from French
Our design office and project managers follow your shows from Chicago to Paris: same booth concept, same standards, same point of contact.
Tell us your show, dates and square footage: within 48 h you get a first concept and a price, with labor and drayage as separate lines. No commitment.
Prefer to talk it through?
+33 7 63 45 23 38 · Monday to Friday
Indicative ranges: €600 to €900 per m² for a modular booth, €800 to €1,500 per m² for a custom booth and €1,000 to €2,000 per developed m² for a double-decker. Union labor and drayage vary by venue and are quoted separately (McCormick Place lists a carpenter’s wage and fringe cost at $99.22 an hour, straight time, as of January 31, 2026).
Count on 2 to 4 months for a modular booth and 3 to 6 months when the booth is custom or double-decker. At McCormick Place, double-deck drawings stamped by a structural engineer are due 60 days before opening. Building in the US often makes tighter deadlines feasible.
Mainly McCormick Place: PACK EXPO International (October 18 to 21, 2026), RSNA (November 29 to December 3, 2026), AHR Expo (January 25 to 27, 2027) and ProMat (April 19 to 21, 2027). We also build in Rosemont (Donald E. Stephens Convention Center), at Navy Pier, the Hyatt Regency Chicago, Schaumburg and THE MART for NeoCon.
For a builder’s crew, yes. Illinois legislation, applied through the McCormick Place Exhibitor Bill of Rights, lets your own full-time employees of at least 6 months work on a booth of any size, but these rights cannot be transferred to contractor personnel. Our crews therefore work with union trades, hired through the general service contractor or an exhibitor-appointed contractor registered with MPEA.
Freight that arrives before your move-in date is refused, so we route crates through the general service contractor’s advance warehouse. Drayage then covers delivery to the booth, empty crate storage and reloading, billed by weight, separately from shipping.
Yes. Installation and dismantling are done by experienced union show labor, supervised on site by our own project manager. We also file the outbound material handling agreement, so your team does not have to stay for move-out.
Yes, storage between shows can be arranged, along with refurbishment and reconfiguration. It suits shows that move around the country, such as AHR Expo, in Chicago in January 2027 and in Orlando in February 2028.
Because one company owns the result: we design your booth, coordinate our US production partners directly and supervise the install. Your booth is assembled and photographed for your approval before it ships, then installed under our project manager’s supervision: no surprises on opening day.
Share your show, booth size and goals: within 48 h, a project manager sends you a first concept and a detailed price.
Answer within 48 h · Built in the US · Turnkey from design to move-out
