By Moe Lastfogel Director of Sales and Marketing for The Retail Observer ![]() I always welcome April with open arms, as March is definitely my busiest month of the year - filled with travel to shows like Nationwide and BrandSource Buy Fairs, the International Home + Housewares Show, the Architectural Digest Home Design Show and the Digital Signage Expo. Sometimes straight from one to another! It is absolutely a blast, but I look forward to refocusing and winding down a bit in the month of April. Nationwide and BrandSource Buy Fairs were amazing. The attendance for both certainly must have been record-breaking, especially for Nationwide with the MEGA merger. The classrooms, keynotes, and show floors at both events were packed. Both held special evening buying events, and from what I was told, shattered all previous sales records. In the next few months, we will have follow-ups on the fairs to give you more details. BrandSource also held a Charity Poker Tournament with proceeds going to their AVB Scholarship. Living in Las Vegas didn't bring me enough luck to place 1st, but 6th out of 142 participants was good enough for me, it was such a fun event for a great cause. The IHHS was filled this year with more smart integrated products than I have seen in years—Instant Pots, rice cookers and blenders to name a few. I can't wait to see how some of the exciting products I saw this year make out in the market place. A new microwave that has an integrated blast chilling mode, and an integrated vacuum sealing drawer with a stainless steel front and push-to-open feature made the top of my WOW list. Again, more to come on the show. I haven’t gone to Architectural Digest or Digital Signage Expo as I write this article but from the press releases I have received, I can’t wait to get there. The AD Show is always great, as I get the opportunity for more one-on-one education than at many other larger shows. DSE is a great look into the future of retail in the digital world and is always an eye- opening experience for me. I can’t wait for you to see what we have to report on in the months to come. Happy Retailing, Moe Lastfogel [email protected]
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By Moe Lastfogel Director of Sales and Marketing for The Retail Observer ![]() CES, Design and Construction Week, ASTI and World Market have ended. People on the internet, at the shows, and post show press releases have said the same thing: the economy is looking stronger than ever, and the shows surpassed all of my expectations. Numbers don’t lie, (most of the time) and I’m excited to say that the shows were packed. As usual, my schedule didn’t allow me to see everything, but what I did see was over the top—new vendors and products and many new faces, not to mention the familiar ones. The shows were like a homecoming for me. At every turn, in the exhibit booths and aisles, I ran into someone that I knew. Not only our vendor partners, but individuals from within the entire community that we work with; industry reps, designers, distributors, servicers, and dealers were all present! It was amazing to see so many people making the effort to be there and so many of our vendors stronger than ever before and ready to do business. It was truly a shot in the arm for our industry. So what’s up next? As I look at my March schedule, I see many opportunities to see new products and pick up valuable information to share in our pages. The BrandSource Buy Fair along with the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo (HPBE) in Nashville, the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, and Arch Digest in New York, to name a few. Are you going to any of these events? What are you missing if you don’t? A lot if the previews I have seen are correct. I expect attendance numbers and new retail opportunities will be above and beyond what we’ve seen in the past years. Go to the Events page on The Retail Observer website for links to all of the industry events happening this year. Then pick a show, plan your itinerary, pack your bags, and please say hello if you see us at the shows. I’m excited and hope to see you there! Happy Retailing, Moe Lastfogel [email protected] |
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December 2021
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