Orgill brings its show to New Orleans

New Orleans -- With 860,000 sq. ft. of show floor space, the Orgill 2015 Fall Dealer Market kicked off Thursday morning here at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Highlights in and between the aisles include Door Buster deals, retail concept stores and new merchandise programs, including a featured Lawn and Garden Program, promising a "retail right" approach to growth.

The market's concept stores display products as they exist in an actual retail setting, mixed with checkout lanes, end caps and store signage, entrances and exits. The pro-driven 3,400-sq.-ft. Cornerstone Construction Supply store features assortments by trade, making it easier for tradesmen to shop. And One Stop Hardware, a 12,000-sq.-ft. model store with a SKU count more typical of an 18,000-sq.-ft. store, includes seasonal niches and a paint store-within-a-store.

The Memphis-based distributor's third model store is an 11,000-sq.-ft. North American Home Centre, featuring a 60-40 pro-to-DIY mix and various Canadian-compliant products.

The distributor's new Lawn and Garden Program is focused on helping dealers boost profit in the category. Following an assortment review, Orgill is rolling out a program with 1,700 new items with regional, national and private-label brands in good, better and best combinations. The new program addressed both wholesale and retail pricing, leading to an assortment that's priced right at retail while carrying a lower average cost of goods, Orgill said.

The Orgill Fall Dealer Market runs through Aug. 29.

Orgill describes itself as "the hardware industry's fastest-growing distributor and the largest independent hardware distributor in the world."