Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Blish-Mize customers were able to use the wholesale hardware distributor’s new Market app for product discovery and deals at the 2023 Blish-Mize Fall Buying Market, held Sept. 14-16 at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas. 2023 is the 20th year the market has taken place at the convention center in Overland Park.
Market attendees were on the hunt for new product ideas and deals, shopping areas and promotions, including featured areas like Show Starters, Surprise Buys, Traffic Builder stackouts, Aisle Opener endcaps and impulse buys and more.
Connecting Customers to Products
The new Blish-Mize Market app was built to mirror the functionality of the company’s everyday ordering app and was introduced at the Fall Buying Market, with planned features to come. The app currently provides market information, but in the future, it will allow market attendees to scan and order products at the show.
“We’re going to have one of the best event apps in the industry, which will allow customers to order at the market and will include individual items and assortments,” says Clay Uhrmacher, vice president of sales and marketing at Blish-Mize.
Products and Deals at the 2023 Fall Buying Market
According to Uhrmacher, the Fall Buying Market featured better deals than retailers may have seen in recent years as vendors were no longer holding back promotionally after managing product availability issues due to the pandemic.
The Fall Buying Market also featured 20 new vendors that were added to the Blish-Mize warehouse in the past 12 months, according to Sarah Lee, vice president of purchasing at Blish-Mize.
Mike Littrell from Bethany Building Center in Bethany, Missouri, was shopping for a variety of products, including new paint lines, power tool accessories and more. He was also at the market to take advantage of market pricing on Generac generators, which he first started stocking after the Spring Buying Market.
“Blish-Mize stocks these generators, and I get them every week,” he says. “We’ve been very successful with that.”
Keith Weston of Creative Paints & Supplies in Clinton, Missouri, is a regular at the Blish-Mize markets and came to shop new items and take advantage of deals on some of his bestselling products.
“I came to see what deals are available and shop for Wooster and Sashco items,” he says.
Market Education
Business workshops were a key part of many Blish-Mize customers’ market plans on Friday.
Eight top Blish-Mize vendors took the stage to present—in just four minutes each—their favorite new products at the New Items Showcase. These vendors included Hardware House, Humex, DAP, Rust-Oleum, Johnson Level, TruFuel, Compass Manufacturing and Baker Products.
“One thing we’ve been trying to improve upon and emphasize at the Market is educating customers on what is new in our warehouse,” Uhrmacher says. “We added and expanded our New Item area, and now we’ve added this New Item presentation from handpicked vendors we believe have the most impactful products. Customers will get the opportunity to see new products, one after the other, pretty quickly.”
Melanie Moul from the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) presented a business workshop, “4 Ways to Upgrade your Business,” which provided attendees with suggestions on how to identify scalable opportunities for improvement, including inventory management, company culture, employee engagement and merchandising.
“Since you’re already here at the Blish-Mize Buying Market, you’ve already taken a significant step in improving your merchandising strategy,” Moul says. “Using opportunities like the market will help you learn from other retailers, get merchandising ideas from vendors and see what is possible.”
Beyond the educational presentations and many featured products and deals on the Fall Buying Market floor, event highlights included cash and prize drawings, Plinko and opportunities to network with food and drinks.
The Blish-Mize Spring Buying Market will take place in Overland Park on March 21-23, 2024.
