By Maggie Gioia | Marketing Coordinator
National Convenience Distributors hit a homerun this past April with their first trade show of the 2022 season at the Eastern States Exposition Center — better known as ‘The Big E’ — in West Springfield, Massachusetts. With an upwards of a thousand retailers in attendance, the baseball-themed industry event offered deep discounts on best-selling products, as well as an opportunity for customers, vendors and NCD employees to connect.
“Our trade shows are an integral part of our business,” said Andrea Tassinari, Marketing Director for NCD. “These events help us to strengthen our relationships with our customer and vendor partners, but they also help our customers and vendors to better connect with one another.”
Since Major League Baseball’s opening day was only a few days prior, NCD highlighted crowd favorite stadium foods, ran vendor-sponsored baseball memorabilia raffles and welcomed attendees to dress the part in their favorite team’s apparel. In addition, NCD celebrated their growing team by awarding each one of their divisions most valuable player.
With over 200 vendors present, retailers had a chance to ‘score’ on countless trade-show-exclusive deals on top items, helping them to ‘walk off’ with huge savings.
“Because there have been so many issues with the supply chain, our trade shows give retailers a way to fill the gaps on their shelves from secondary suppliers that have ample product available,” said Marty Glick, NCD’s Executive Vice President of Divisional Sales.
“The issues stem from the manufacturer and primary supplier, but the trade show helps our customers to connect with the secondary suppliers to get the products they need — even in this market. They can even get special deals on these products, which the team at NCD works hard to create with our vendor partners.”
Retailers also earned access to a 1600 square foot mock convenience store setup where they could experience NCD’s merchandising services and attain guidance on proven product placement techniques for their own store.
“We put together a full convenience store at each trade show so our customers can see our merchandising strategies in action,” said Greg Muhlig, Director of Merchandising at NCD. “The team will consult with customers one-on-one to provide data-driven product placement and store layout advice.”
Moreover, trade show attendees could participate in demonstrations at the large working Island Coffee display, gain instruction by NCD’s Senior Culinary Chef and Trainer at the full foodservice kitchen and learn more about best practices at the NCD-branded mobile technology support booth.
However, NCD’s trade show was more than just an opportunity to discover industry trends and innovation. Attendees refueled at a catered luncheon, indulged in thousands of free samples of food, smoke and other merchandise and played on cornhole courts for some old-fashioned fun.
“Our retailers, vendors and employees always look forward to the trade show because there really isn’t any other event like it,” said Jeff Allen, NCD’s Chief Executive Officer. “It enables us to work together in person to make all of our businesses better. We may be a growing company, but we continue to lead with the family values that emphasize this face-to-face collaboration.”
Like all NCD’s trade shows, the April event reinvigorated attendees with the spirit of the industry. Registration is now open for NCD’s Summer Trade Show on June 23 at Harrah’s Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This event is another chance for vendors and retailers to secure unmatched savings, enjoy popular entertainment and network with other industry professionals.
Check out some of NCD’s other upcoming events here!
