CUSTOM EXHIBITS
by Design

Plan on eight to twelve weeks from approved design to a finished exhibit for a typical custom build. Larger island exhibits with integrated technology, structural elements, or hanging signage need more. The design and approval phase is usually the variable — fabrication itself is comparatively predictable.

Custom fabrication is a project-based quote rather than a list price, and it generally starts meaningfully above an off-the-shelf modular kit of the same footprint. The trade-off is that a custom exhibit is engineered for your specific space, brand, and traffic flow rather than assembled from generic parts.

It can, if that requirement is designed in from the start. If you exhibit at a 20x20 island once a year and 10x20 inlines the rest of the time, tell us during design — building a structure that breaks down into a smaller valid configuration is straightforward at the design stage and expensive to retrofit later.

Yes. Storage, inventory tracking, and refurbishment between shows are part of what we do for exhibitors who own their booths. It is usually cheaper than warehousing a crated exhibit yourself, and it means the booth is inspected before it ships rather than after it fails.

Limits are set by show management, not the venue alone, so they vary by event. As a general guide at McCormick Place, hanging signs in island booths are commonly capped at 25 feet to the top of the sign and peninsula booths at 20 feet, with hanging signs not permitted in linear booths at all. Always confirm against your specific exhibitor manual — we review it with you during design.

Yes. Design, fabrication, and finishing happen under one roof rather than being outsourced piecemeal, which is what lets us hold a single timeline and a single point of accountability from concept to installation.

At our Bensenville, IL facility, roughly 20 minutes from O’Hare and a short drive to McCormick Place, Navy Pier, and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center — close enough that we handle delivery and installation ourselves rather than shipping freight and hoping it arrives intact.

The average trade show booth cost runs in the low four figures for a 10x10 inline — about $1,500 to $5,000 for a pop-up or tension fabric backwall with graphics — roughly $5,000 to $15,000 for a furnished 10x20, and $15,000 and up for a 20x20 island with counters, lighting, and technology. Booth prices for trade shows move with fabrication level (aluminum modular, tension fabric, wood joinery), finish, and how many shows the booth must last. Send us your booth size and show date and you will have a number before the rendering, not after.

Yes — among trade show booth manufacturers, we are the kind that builds in-house rather than reselling display kits. Custom built trade show booths, trade show booth construction, painting, and finishing all happen under one roof in our Bensenville facility, so one timeline and one point of accountability runs from concept to install. Every booth is built to your space rather than pulled from stock — nothing here is a generic trade show booth for sale from a warehouse, and custom booths for trade shows of any footprint are the norm, not the exception.

Yes. We build custom rental trade show exhibits for one-off shows, market tests, and footprints that are too large or unusual to own, and we stock standard configurations too — so if you are comparing custom rental trade show booths, compare on three things: who installs them, what happens to the storage between shows, and how many shows the graphics survive. You get a booth built to your specification, delivered and installed for the show, and taken back down after, with none of the storage or depreciation. If you exhibit twice a year or more, owning usually wins on cost; if it is once a year or a trial, rent.