George Little II, who is known as Jeff, has no idea how important he is to New York women. Mr. Little, a modest and fairly serious sort of fellow, is president of George Little Management, the largest producer of consumer products trade shows in America.

More crucial to well-dressed Upper East Siders, however, is that GLM owns Soiffer/Haskin, an extremely profitable vendor of end-of-season and sample merchandise by chic luxury goods companies like Ferragamo and Escada.

Soiffer/Haskin holds its sales in a large auditorium at Parsons School of Design on Seventh Avenue, offering only the barest of amenities, such as communal dressing rooms and the occasional salesperson whose main job is to safeguard your selections from your avaricious neighbor.

The company alerts its extraordinary customer list of 85,000 fashionistas to upcoming events through postcards, and through its Web site,Glmshows.com. It’s not unusual to see dozens, or even hundreds of women queuing up in front of Parsons waiting for the doors to open, desperately seeking seriously marked down designer goods.

Shopping at one of these sales is a true New York experience, and it is not for the faint of heart. Having said that, where else can one find Loro Piana’s luscious cashmeres at a fraction of their normal price? Here’s a hint: next week from the September 27 to October 1.

The main business of GLM, which contributes probably 90% of revenues, dates back to 1924. In that year Mr. Little’s grandfather, who imported gift items from Europe and the Far East, organized the first trade show America.

Realizing that he and his competitors were wasting enormous energy and time crisscrossing the country calling on retailers, George F. Little hired a hotel suite at the Palmer House in Chicago, and convinced other merchants to come show their goods in concert.

The concept attracted so many enthusiasts that Mr. Little sold his import business and took up full-time the challenge of organizing the giftware industry.

Modern-day trade shows were radically redesigned when cities began to build huge convention centers like the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York and McCormick Place in Chicago. The enormous scale of these facilities meant a whole new level of organizational and financial complexity, allowing first-rate managers like GLM to outpace the competition.

GLM will organize 53 trade shows across America and Canada this year, and rake in upwards of $100 million in revenues. The company is the largest in America, leasing out 5 million square feet of exhibition space, in 10-foot-by-10-foot units, to thousands of customers.

Though its bread-and butter business is still giftware sales, GLM has branched into related activities over the years, including contemporary furniture and spa products like candles and lotions. It has also produced a Marathon Health & Fitness Expo for the New York Road Runners Club, and in the past put on the New York Flower Show. Astonishingly, by dint of developing new, creative shows and nurturing an ever-growing number of customers, GLM has never had a down year.

It was touch-and-go in 2002, in the aftermath of 9/11. In an uncertain environment, some shows were cancelled, and GLM was hit with lease-payment commitments. Mr. Little was thankful for business interruption insurance, which took up the slack.

Mr. Little gives much of the credit for GLM’s success to his partners, most of whom have worked together for many years. Jack Withiam, general counsel and partner, for instance, was a fraternity brother of Mr. Little’s at Hamilton College. Another partner, Alan Steel, who has been particularly helpful in coming up with new show ideas, has been with the company since 1982.

Nonetheless, GLM has been a family business since its founding. Mr. Little’s father and uncle took over from his grandfather, and then passed the reins to him in 1981. His older cousin Will is also a partner, though not as active in the business as he once was.

For many reasons, Mr. Little is selling the company. In the late 1990s he began to be concerned about the future of retailing. Trends such as the growth of “big box” stores like Wal-Mart and Costco, the emergence of Internet shopping, and increased outsourcing from China all raised red flags.

At the same time, markets, and valuations, were frothy. His company attracted the attention of dmg world media, the owner of the Daily Mail newspaper in London, and organizer of trade shows all over the world. After lengthy negotiations, an unusual deal was struck, whereby the Daily Mail outfit is to gradually take over George Little Management. The British company currently has a 25% stake in GLM. By 2014, it will own GLM outright.

The change will allow the partners to solve issues that often confront multigenerational, closely held companies. Because of the way the deal is structured, operations are likely to be little altered. It will, naturally, throw cold water on the prospect of Mr. Little’s two sons eventually running the business.

That’s okay for Mr. Little, who points out that the world has become too competitive for family members to be offered a sinecure. Also, he believes his sons have interests elsewhere, and plenty of talent to ensure their success.

By all accounts, Mr. Little has worked hard for the success of the business. Though he cites golf as an outside interest, he admits that “the business is my life.” Presumably his handicap reflects that.

Ms. Peek, CFA, is a former managing director of Wertheim Schroder, now part of Citigroup.