SHOW REPORT
NEW PRODUCTS AND NEW CATEGORIES DOMINATE NATIONAL HARDWARE SHOW
Bob Vereen reports on all the news from the 2017 National Hardware Show, including the latest trends in the American market and how US hardware retailers are reacting to increased competition from online traders
T
ens of thousands of buyers, many from countries around the world, spent three days in Las Vegas earlier this month attending
the National Hardware Show, searching for new products that would excite customers and bring them into their stores. The show’s vice president Rich
Russo was delighted with this year’s event and said there had been a “great turnout and lots of enthusiasm from our attendees and exhibitors.”
Exhibitors who travelled from the UK to show their wares to the host of
international buyers
included tool manufacturer Spear & Jackson, Firepits UK, plastic garden planter manufacturer Strata Products, Vegtrug, garden glove and boot manufacturer Briers, and pest control specialists STV International.
While the National Hardware Show has always offered visitors new products, this year’s show was arranged to make it easier to spot them and encouraged buyers to think about developing entirely new categories and departments that would draw traffic and meet customer needs. As Mr Russo said: “This year’s show was full of innovation, imagination and networking opportunities.” The show’s theme was “Reimagine Retail”, as it recognised the tremendous growth of online retailing, in addition to the changes made necessary for conventional brick-and-mortar retailing. To make it easy for buyers, show management established a featured products gallery in one dedicated room, which included New Product
10 DIY WEEK 26 MAY 2017
World, Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery, Energy Efficient Products Display and two awards displays. Because
hardware stores and
home centers are the places customers turn to when disasters strike, in that room the show identified and organised products for Emergency Preparation and Disaster Relief, as well as safety- related products. Buyers learned about additional products that could
help them better possibly serve
their communities when disasters strike, with the idea that they could
group some of
those products into a new category which would set them apart from mass merchandising competitors and online competition. One exhibitor in this area was Nextorch, offering a selection of
flashlights and other emergency products.
“The National Hardware Show is a great way for us to make a connection with the home improvement
channel,”
president Michael McCrory. “Retail in the United States is very challenging right now, but this channel is a viable one.”
New launches With online retailing posing an ever more potent competitive threat, conventional retailers are finding it necessary to offer customers new items not available from online sources, so buyers were spending extra time in the three areas of the show focused on new items. As always, the New Products section highlighted products already offered by show exhibitors
said
but, this year another section, New Product Launch, in the Central Lobby, featured products not yet on the market but ready to be launched, so buyers could get an early start in deciding if they had sales potential. The Inventors Spotlight was the third dedicated new-product area, showing products seeking a manufacturer to bring them to market. But the National Hardware Show is more than a traditional trade show, even though, with some 2,600 exhibitors from around the world, it is one of the largest consumer- oriented trade shows anywhere. Because of its relationship with the North American Retail Hardware Association, it offers attendees a first-class educational programme, as well as a networking venue with other retailers.
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