Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
From inspiring model stores and more than 1,200 vendor booths to promotional areas and product showcases, retailers were able to take it all in this week at Orgill’s 2024 Spring Dealer Market held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
The event, which runs Feb. 22-24, brings together thousands of retailers from around the world to connect with an excited vendor community and shop promotional buys, network with industry-leading vendors and service providers and attend a range of educational sessions.
“It’s always our goal to put on an event that makes it well worth the trip for our customers, and we think we have achieved that here in Orlando,” says Boyden Moore, Orgill president and CEO. “Now, more than ever, retailers in this industry need to be proactive about finding ways to compete and succeed and our Market is designed to provide them with the tools they need to do just that. We are very thankful to all the retailers who are here and all of our vendor partners who step up to make the event the best in the industry.”
The event’s popularity was on full display Thursday morning as a crowd of Orgill customers waited outside the Market doors for the show floor to open. Some retailers stood in line from 6 a.m., eager to take advantage of the Market deals and pricing.
“We’re really excited to find new items and deals,” says Carlee Thorrington from Mahoney’s Building Supply in Massachusetts. “Our company wants us to find items you can’t find anywhere else that will bring in customers.”
New and Interesting Additions
In an effort to continually improve the event and make it more responsive to market trends, Orgill introduced several new additions to this year’s presentation.
One of these new areas is the Farm and Pet showcase, featuring products for household pets and agriculture. In addition to the product showcase, attendees also have the opportunity to visit the adjacent Pet Oasis, where they can unwind and interact with adoptable rescue dogs on Thursday and Friday.
“We are very excited to present our Farm and Pet showcase,” says Matt Ray, senior category manager for outdoor living. “We have more than 1,000 items in our Farm and Pet showcase throughout the 10,000-square-foot area.”
Click here to watch a behind-the-scenes video featuring the Farm & Pet Showcase.
Models for Success and Merchandising Ideas
Along with the product showcase areas on the floor, Orgill also hoped to spark merchandising, layout and assortment ideas for attendees and has dedicated several areas of the Spring Dealer Market to help. From fully merchandised concept stores to the Impulse showcase, attendees could see the latest in real-world merchandising solutions that spotlight best-in-class examples of in-store design.
For its popular concept stores, Orgill used real-world retail locations from its Central Network Retail Group (CNRG) brands, Frattallone’s Hardware & Garden and LumberJack Home & Building Center.
In these areas, attendees can walk the aisles of the full-size stores to see how merchandise, assortments, signage and displays come together to create a world-class in-store experience.
“I’m thrilled to be here at Orgill’s Dealer Market, where innovation and industry growth take center stage,” says Jim Rivas, president of Tyndale Advisors. “We are excited to work with our customers at the Market, harnessing our expertise and guiding businesses toward success with our branding strategies.”
Frattallone’s Hardware & Garden is a 14,000-square-foot model store, featuring full departments for impulse, lawn and garden, paint, pet, housewares, hardware and fasteners—with Orgill Door Busters, endcaps and stackouts located throughout.
A checkout counter equipped with a complete POS system, including FanBuilder integration, is staffed by Orgill employees available to answer questions and provide demonstrations.
Click here to watch a behind-the-scenes video featuring Orgill’s assortment strategy as shown in Frattallone’s Hardware & Garden concept store.
The LumberJack Home & Building Center concept store is based on LumberJack’s pro-focused brand. A full rental department is featured along with an expansive Midwest Fasteners display.
At the Impulse showcase, checkouts are the heart of the retail experience, serving as the central focus with an emphasis on efficient queuing and different configurations to enhance the customer journey. The layout is strategically designed, with dominant consumables taking the spotlight. The showcase features dynamic merchandising, including eye-catching dump bins, wing panels, clipstrips and convenient countertop displays.
Some of the highlighted assortments and programs featured in the showcase include a distinctive wagon display from Iowa Smokehouse, demos from Soda Stream and high-margin assortments from Awesome Chemicals.
Additional impulse offerings found in the area include the Gel Blaster assortment, new flavors from Dot’s Pretzels and a savory selection of grill spices and seasonings from renowned brands like Traeger, Blackstone, Old World Spice and Blues Hogs.
Promotional Buying
While browsing concept stores and learning about new opportunities are a key part of the Spring Dealer Market experience, Orgill’s events are known for the promotional buying opportunities they offer.
Throughout the Spring Dealer Market, attendees can take advantage of thousands of product specials, Door Buster promotions, pallet buys, planograms and a wide assortment of special pricing exclusively for Orgill customers.
“We know, and our vendors know, that the Spring Dealer Market and our Online Buying Events have reputations for offering our customers fantastic buying opportunities, and we appreciate how our vendors continue to step up and make sure that we live up to our customers’ expectations,” says Jeff Curler, Orgill’s executive vice president of purchasing.
For retailers looking to tighten up their assortments and find additional opportunities to maximize sales and profits, Orgill created a special area to showcase its Smart Start offerings. At the show, attendees can browse more than 600 linear feet of Smart Start products in the Smart Start showcase. This year, to enhance the customer experience, Orgill has also introduced a central checkout desk to facilitate conversations with Orgill sales representatives and Smart Start specialists.
Orgill’s Smart Start program helps retailers update, upgrade or enhance their inventories while converting to Orgill’s warehouse-backed vendor programs. Smart Starts allow retailers who are converting product lines to swap out their current inventories seamlessly and receive credit to offset some of the conversion cost. Integrated Smart Starts are Orgill’s latest enhancement to this already-popular program.
Click here to watch a behind-the-scenes video featuring the Smart Start showcase.
The Exclusively Orgill showcase features a broad selection of private-label products from Orgill’s Christmas, patio, warehouse and Halloween booking programs, each tailored to meet the unique needs of Orgill customers.
New faucets, matte black bath hardware, a comprehensive hand tool assortment and new country-style light fixtures are being introduced at the 2024 Spring Dealer Market.
U.S. Market Special items and New Items both increased by 20% compared to the 2023 Dealer Market.
“We have a record number of planograms submitted with discounts to provide our customers a great opportunity to buy into new and innovative assortments,” says Alan Shore, director of seasonal merchandise.
Education at the Dealer Market
As always, education is also taking center stage during the three-day event. From workshops and clinics to presentations delivered by the industry’s top experts, the Spring Dealer Market is not only a place to shop but a place to learn and grow.
Presentations at the Learning Center, located in the Orgill Services area on the Market floor, will provide attendees with the information they need to better understand where the industry is headed and how it will impact their operations.
Presentations on Thursday and Friday include the following top speakers and themes.
On Thursday, join Dan Tratensek, chief operating officer for the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA), as he shares 10 actionable insights to fuel business growth for both the top and bottom lines.
Orgill’s purchasing team will present “New & Exciting Products (And Vendors) From the Orgill Merchants,” featuring products new to Orgill. Vendors will provide dealers with insights into new products that promise to bring innovation and sales opportunities.
On Friday, Kim Peffley, a former retail manager and NHPA’s director of organizational development and consulting, will present “5 Tips to Improve Your Loss Prevention Strategy,” which will provide attendees with tips to enhance their loss prevention coverage and minimize potential losses.
Matthew Leiser, director of research at the Cleveland Research Company (CRC), will deliver a comprehensive state of the industry navigating key topics, including the CRC/Orgill dealer survey, the latest CRC shopper insights survey and a diagnosis of the health of the home improvement industry at the start of 2024.
The Orgill Technology Symposium
There’s no doubt that technology continues to play a larger role for retailers of all sizes. Orgill has long recognized the ability of technology to help create scale and drive efficiency at retail.
This year marked Orgill’s 15th Technology Symposium, and during the session conversations centered around retail technology, e-commerce, data, loyalty, loss prevention and new emerging trends in artificial intelligence (AI) and in-store tech.
The event, held on Wednesday, Feb. 21 before the official Market kickoff, attracted hundreds of retailers interested in learning and sharing ideas about technology in the home improvement industry.
“It’s incredible to see how far we’ve come. Each symposium has been a testament to our commitment to innovation, collaboration and driving positive change in the retail wholesale industry,” says Marc Hamer, Orgill’s executive vice president and chief information and technology officer. “We remain dedicated to working on new technology and cost-saving measures to empower our partners and help them succeed.”
Keynote speaker Nicholas Fischietto, executive director of the ecommerce council at CRC, presented research and insights into consumer expectations and reactions to retail technology today.
Retailers participated in roundtable discussions on loyalty rewards programs, POS and e-commerce data challenges and in-store technology and also attended panel discussions on cybersecurity and modern solutions for shrink and loss prevention.
More Ways to Shop
The deals don’t end on Friday. Orgill’s Online Buying Event began before the Dealer Market on Feb. 19 and will continue until March 3. At both the live Spring Dealer Market and the Online Buying Event, retailers can take advantage of promotional buying opportunities, shop for seasonal merchandise and browse thousands of new products. The same vendors and products are on offer at both the in-person and virtual events, making the Dealer Market a truly hybrid event.
“We are very pleased to offer nearly all the promotions online as well as on the floor at the Dealer Market,” says Greg Stine, executive vice president of marketing and communications. “This allows our dealers to explore and take notes on the floor, place orders if they want, but also get fully organized and finish their orders next week. We find it works very well for our dealers.”
Orgill’s Dealer Market app, available through all major app stores, makes it easy for attendees to get the most out of their time at the 2024 Spring Dealer Market, with the ability to look up vendors, scan a map of the Market floor, access schedules for educational sessions, take notes and more.
About Orgill
Orgill, the industry’s fastest-growing hardlines distributor, was founded in 1847 and is
headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee. Orgill serves more than 13,000 retail hardware
stores, home centers, professional lumber dealers and farm stores throughout the U.S. and
Canada, and in over 50 countries around the world. More information can be found at
orgill.com.
