JULY 2015 RETAILOBSERVER.COM
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"We think if we outsource things, we lose creativity and quality,"
says Ben Lewis, director of marketing.
The One-on-One appointments were a new feature at the show
this year. They're a way to connect independent retailers with
exhibitors in 15-minute appointments. Both parties submitted
information to the National Hardware Show (what products
retailers are looking to buy, minimum orders required from
manufacturers and other pertinent information) to match up
retailers and manufacturers that could benefit from a meeting.
The OSA Auction, a three-day digital auction, was also a new
feature at this year's show. The auction came from collaboration
between the National Hardware Show and RNO Exhibitions, it
included the sale of hundreds of product lots, including new, current,
overstock, discontinued, seasonal change and packaging change
products. All bidding was done virtually through the NHS mobile app.
SPEAKERS
The North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA)
Village Stage, this year located in the Central Hall, stayed busy
with a variety of speakers—with many speaking on the NRHA All-
Industry Conference's theme of "Generations," which offered
advice on managing employees across generations.
The keynote speaker, generational expert Scott Zimmer, talked
about different generations of employees in retail today and how
to create a balanced mentality among a team made up of
employees from several different generations.
"Whether you work in retail, the corporate sector or are in
manufacturing, there is a generational, demographic shift that is
happening," Zimmer says. "When we have these different
generations working shoulder to shoulder it can create a bit of
tension since people have different methods of recruiting,
retaining and even delivering feedback."
Jim Robisch, senior partner with the Farnsworth Group, spoke
about generational buying patterns in the home improvement
industry. Robisch presented data that gave insights into how
different generations shop for and purchase home improvement
products and offered some ideas of how retailers could better
reach out to these customers.
"All of these generations are different in one respect but then very
similar in other areas," Robisch says. "For example, all generations
