Hardware Show is industry's annual check-up

Home Channel News, March 20, 2000 by Don Longo

I don't expect the National Hardware Show to miss a beat this August despite the absence of a couple of major exhibitors (see page 1). Exhibit space will be sold out as usual, and with the industry riding the crest of one of its best periods of prosperity, the National Hardware Show (Aug. 13 to Aug. 16) promises to again be the place, to be for every executive in the hardware/home improvement industry.

Of course, every company has the right to decide how best to invest its marketing funds. However, I thought it might be useful to remind readers why having this industry "event" is important to manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

1. In an era of increased private and captive brand labeling, the Hardware Show provides a showcase for manufacturers to reinforce the power of brand images. A strong brand name enables both retailers and manufacturers to avoid malting a commodity of product lines.

2. Sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got until it's gone. Take, for example, the effect on small- and medium-sized manufacturers when the National Housewares Show lost a year when it was canceled due to a major blizzard that hit Chicago several years ago. Some observers claim the missed show contributed partially to several bankruptcies and financial problems among many small firms that year.

3. Globalization of the business has created a new demand for international brand building. With me continued growth of global sourcing and retailers' international expansion efforts, 2000 will be a key year for suppliers positioning themselves in the global DIY and home improvement business. The National Hardware Show, with its International pavilion and programs, has done a great job at increasing international participation by both exhibitors and retailers. Lowe's chairman and CEO, Bob Tillman, recently called the Chicago show the "most meaningful hardware show in the world."

4. What happens when your market shifts? There are 3,300 manufacturers that exhibit at the Hardware Show, but that's just a slice of the total universe. There are literally thousands more suppliers than could ever exist to serve the declining number of retailers. Out of pure survival, manufacturers need to look for other sources of customers. International retailers are one altemative, not to mention the large number of non-hardware/home improvement retailers that attend, such as mass merchants like Wal-Mart and Kmart, specialty retailers like Restoration Hardware and Dal Tile and even grocery and drug store chains.

5. I certainly can understand exhibitors' need to cut costs, especially with the pressure retailers are putting on them to lower prices. But I am still amazed when I see all the money some exhibitors spend on contests, models, celebrities and performers, yet many don't bring the right personnel that retailers really want to see. In today's new retailer-supplier paradigm, the buyer and sales rep are just a small part of the relationship. I am convinced that the exhibitors who bring logistics, e-commerce and financial executives to meet with their retailer counterparts get more productive use of their show investments.

6. The National Hardware Show is the best place to take the industry's pulse. In what direction is the industry headed? What companies are on the rise? Which ones are faltering? What are the product trends? The show is buzzing with this information, and you really have to be there to feel the excitement. You'll notice that NHCN's post-show wrap-up articles always include an article about how show attendees view the state of the business.

Finally, the hardware show is also the best advertisement about the vitality of the hardware/home improvement industry. Each year, the American Hardware Manufacturers Association, the show's sponsor, collects boxes full of clippings of articles and columns that covered the show in the nation's print media. Television talk shows invariably send cameras to cover the event. This media coverage benefits everyone in the home improvement industry, not just the exhibitors.

See you in Chicago.