National Hardware Show lights up Las Vegas

DSN Retailing Today, Sept 6, 2004

LAS VEGAS -- The 59th National Hardware Show, held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, has left little doubt about the future of the industry's biggest trade show. Retailers and manufacturers have overwhelmingly chosen Las Vegas.

Reed Exhibitions continues to barrel ahead with expansion plans. The Norwalk, Conn., trade show organizer, which crammed booths into every nook and cranny of the Salads Expo this year, has booked additional space at the Las Vegas Convention Center for 2005. Reed has also announced a partnership with George Little Management, producer of the Gourmet Products Show. The high-end housewares trade event will share the convention center with the National Hardware Show on May 17 to 19, 2005.

While neither appliances nor kitchen and bath were dominant in Las Vegas this year, Reed hopes to increase its penetration in these areas. Vendors in these categories have been gravitating toward specialty trade shows in recent years. However, the National Hardware Show hopes to bring in this group of suppliers as part of its whole home initiative.

"All the major buyers from all the groups and companies are here," said Paul Boyce, CEO of Plasplugs. That included European retailers such as B&Q, as well as mail order catalogs, mid-sized retail chains, hardware distributors and independent garden centers. Even the Walt Disney Co. had someone scouting the booths.

"We'll probably find half a dozen items here," said Martin Smith, a buyer for Skymall in Phoenix. He was intrigued by an electronic rat trap and a wearable flashlight, both of which might sell well in an aMine catalog.

Regardless of their size or channel, retailers were on the lookout for innovative products that were priced right and already in production. Some merchants were wooed by new programs like the one offered by Henri Studio, which is putting together a unique garden decor "ensemble" for each retail channel. The three-SKU assortment will contain a matching bench, statue and birdbath, sold together for less than $100.

One of the busiest booths oil the floor was Microblend Technologies, a Los Angeles firm promising to revolutionize how paint is produced and sold. The computer-controlled system uses five tanks and a dispenser to make interior and exterior latex paint in virtually any color and finish.

"You don't have to tie tip your inventory and floor-selling space with this," explained Greg Fuller, CEO of All American Home Center, as he watched a demonstration. Fuller had brought his operations manager, his paint buyer and five other associates to evaluate the system as a possible addition to the company's 175,000-square-foot store in Downey, Calif. The All American team stood cheek-to-jowl with a group front Blish-Mize, the Atchison, Kan., distributor, and City Mill, the Hawaiian hardware store chain, who also stopped by the booth to see how Microblend could replicate a Benjamin Moore color.

Not surprisingly, the Microblend booth was located some distance from most of the other paint companies. The Paint & Decorating Retailers' Association (PDRA) teamed up with Reed this year and held their annual trade show in a separate ballroom off the main exhibit hall. Exhibitors included ICI Paints, Martin Senour/Pratt & Lambert Pittsburgh Paints and Purdy. (Valspar took a booth near the hardware and tools section.)

Outdoor living was the dominant category in terms of real estate. Scotts Co. and Central Garden & Pet commanded two of the biggest booths in this section, with smaller lawn and garden vendors also scattered throughout the lower level. Patio furniture, pottery and garden accents were well represented. In outdoor grills, Char-Broil, Brinkmann and Fiesta were joined by numerous suppliers of portable barbecues and accessories.

One of several companies showing spring 2005 collections was Lee's Pottery of Ontario, Calif. The stoneware manufacturer featured a birdbath that doubles as a strawberry planter, as well as pots wrapped in jute, wicker and other natural fibers. But the Wal-Mart buyers visiting the booth seemed more interested in decorative terra cotta pots.

As always, the hardware show provided an opportunity for vendors to infiltrate new retail channels or cross over into new product categories. Q.E.P., a Boca Raton, Fla., company known for its flooring installation tools, used the event to launch several new painting products for the DIY channel. Art Line. a garden accents supplier, displayed a collection of decorative caps for fence posts. "We're getting a whole new set of reps for the building materials [retailer]," Art Line's president said.

In home security products, several vendors showed the latest in wall vaults, safes and mailboxes. Murray Gelleri, general buyer for Discount Builders Supply in San Francisco. said he was impressed with the Brinks safe that recognizes fingerprints. The biometric product, made by Sisco, retails for only $299. "This technology has been around for a year or so, but we brought the price down to where the average homeowner can afford it," said Rexford Lundquist, Sisco's marketing director.