Orgill Prepares to Host First In-Person Dealer Market Since 2020

To hear more insights about Orgill’s upcoming Spring Dealer Market and the company’s 175th anniversary, listen to Dan Tratensek’s interview with Orgill President and CEO Boyden Moore on the Feb. 21 episode of the “Taking Care of Business” podcast.

With its first in-person dealer market since 2020 just days away, Orgill’s president and CEO Boyden Moore sat down with Hardware Retailing to provide some insights into the company’s future plans for buying events and to share his thoughts on the supply chain and reflect on the distributor’s 175th anniversary.

Leading off the discussion, Moore expressed how excited the Orgill team is to return to an in-person dealer market, which will be the company’s first since February 2020. The Orgill Dealer Market is scheduled to take place in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 24-26 and the distributor will hold a Spring Online Buying Event at the same time as the live show.

“There are a lot of exciting things going on right now,” Moore says. “We are definitely happy that we are going to be back in person at our dealer market.”

After the onset of the pandemic, Orgill pivoted to a series of online buying events allowing customers access to promotional buying and replenishment deals when they were unable to attend live events due to the pandemic.

Moore says the company quickly identified that online buying events offer certain benefits to its customers and Orgill will continue to offer online buying events as part of its ongoing market strategy.

“When we had to pivot to those online buying events, it was really to give our customers access to the same buys that they would see when at our semi-annual dealer markets,” he says. “We decided for the items customers are used to coming and buying at the markets that we can make that more efficient with an online buying event, and we can also do that more frequently in a quarterly cadence. For the things we couldn’t replicate in an online platform, like exploring new products and the relationships and networking with their peers and our buyers, those are things that are better done at our in-person markets.”

Now, with the return to in-person markets, Moore confirmed Orgill’s vision moving forward is to offer a combination of online buying events together with in-person shows.

This year will feature Orgill’s in-person Spring Dealer Market and four quarterly online buying events, which offer a distinct advantage for retailers, he says.

“One of the exciting things about this is you can get your programmatic and seasonal promotional buying done more efficiently using the online buying event, which gives you more time to investigate other ways to move your business forward while you are at the live show,” Moore says. “Some of our customers are doing this as a team, where they plan to have some buyers working the online event back at the office while they have other people at the show doing the legwork that is better done at the live event.”

While the plan for 2022 is to host the Spring Dealer Market together with quarterly online events, Moore says that Orgill is open to this strategy evolving as customer needs change.

“We are always going to listen to our customers, but we are also looking for things that we could do live that might be different from a traditional dealer market,” he says. “There may be different ways we can think through what we do at a live market, such as a customized customer experience.”

Regarding the plans for this spring’s in-person dealer market, Moore says that attendees can expect to see all of the features that traditionally made Orgill’s live events popular.

This includes a wide range of promotional buying opportunities, two full-scale model store concepts and an enhanced focus on retail services.

The popular model stores are one example Moore points to as an area best experienced in a live setting, and there will be two different retail approaches on display in Orlando.

“What’s a bit different about the model stores this time is that we are showcasing real-world stores from our CNRG brands,” Moore says. “This is a great example of how we take the things we learn from our CNRG laboratory and use what we have learned to help all of our customers.”

The two stores on display in Orlando will include:

• Lumberjack Home & Building Center: a 7,000-square-foot pro/contractor-focused model featuring Orgill’s ProSource product assortments and a 1,000-square-foot rental department.
• Town & Country Hardware: a 13,000-square-foot traditional hardware store featuring a destination paint department and highlighting Orgill’s FanBuilder loyalty program at its checkout areas.

In addition to the model stores, Orgill will also provide a focus on new products at the market with more than 23,000 square feet of its Smart Start assortments.

Moore says that Orgill has worked closely with its vendors to ensure that the products featured within these areas are available for shipment to retailers when they need them.

“The truth is, when customers concentrate and focus more on programmatic buying, it gives us more time to better understand and source the products they need,” he says. “So when we have these deals and programs on display at our market, and customers place their orders in advance of when they need them, we can better work with our vendor partners to ensure those orders are filled.”

Lastly, Moore acknowledged the important role Orgll’s vendor partners and customers have played in Orgill reaching such a significant milestone in the company’s history—175 years of service.

“There’s no doubt 175 years is a long time,” Moore says. “We want to celebrate that by throwing a party for our customers who have made this kind of longevity possible.”

To recognize the company’s 175th anniversary, Orgill will host an evening event during the Spring Dealer Market at Universal Studios and has also worked with a local Memphis-area brewery to develop two commemorative beers honoring the company’s leadership.

“One thing we have learned as we look back on Orgill’s history is that our ability to adapt to changing times and to meet the needs of the independent retailers we serve has kept us going,” Moore says. “That is a legacy we are very proud of—our ability to continue to help find new and innovative ways to help our customers be successful.”