Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
The city of New Orleans was filled with the sound of jazz music, smell of Cajun cuisine and an influx of thousands of people who came to attend the Orgill, Inc. Fall Dealer Market this week.
The show kicked off Thursday morning, with attendees eager to start making the rounds in the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
Covering 860,000 square feet, the market’s show floor featured three concept stores, five product category showcase sections and thousands of vendors from all of the core categories — all organized to help retailers get ready for the fall selling season.
Many retailers at the market were busy looking for the best deals on products, while others were eagerly finding information about programs and services Orgill provides.
“My store is located on a recreation lake, so our busy season is the spring and summer,” says David Dillman, owner of Rough River Hardware in McDaniels, Kentucky. “I buy at the spring market and I learn at the fall market.”
Robert Welsh, category manager and store planner for Spenard Builders Supply, which has 12 locations in Alaska, tries to meet up with his current vendors at Orgill markets.
“My main goal at any Orgill market is to meet with our existing vendors to update assortments,” Welsh says.
Some of the most popular areas of the show floor featured special product discounts. Retailers on the hunt for great deals were not disappointed. Several areas of the show floor were specifically set up for special offers, like the market busters, coupon area and flash market. On top of those great deals, attendees could also check out the door busters, new items area and pallet specials, which Welsh says his operation is taking advantage of.
“We’re buying big quantities of items out of pallet specials, but not every operation would want or need to do that,” Welsh says. “Orgill tailors specials to each dealer’s size.”
Orgill highlighted product categories during the event by featuring them in the product showcase areas, including Household Products and Organization, Winter Elements, 2016 Lawn and Garden, Automotive Plus and Worldwide Sourcing. These showcase areas allowed attendees to browse a complete range of products within each category. Orgill category buyers were available to answer questions.
The three model stores on the show floor provided examples of layout and design concepts for several types of operations.
The One Stop Plus Hardware model store featured a complete range of core hardware assortments for retailers to browse. This store also provided examples of merchandising, signage and unique fixtures.
The North American Home Center model store provided ideas for a home center that appeals to both pro customers and DIYers. Additionally, everything in the store was available to Canadian attendees.
Cornerstone Construction Supply was a smaller, 3,400-square-foot model store that showed how pro-focused retailers can use limited space.
In addition to seeing the many products and store design ideas available to browse, attendees also attended seminars to get operational advice and learn about market trends. A few of the topics covered included operational tuneups, leveraging local power and using customer loyalty effectively.
The market was a great opportunity for Dillman to get help with his e-commerce website, he says. “The biggest thing I wanted to accomplish here was getting my e-commerce website up and running,” he says. “Orgill got me all set up and it should be live and shoppable in the next day or so.”
At the market, which runs through Saturday, attendees were able to register for Orgill’s Spring Dealer Market in Orlando. For more information, visit www.orgill.com.
