Hardware Show: Lessons from the floor
The National Hardware Show rolled in and out of Las Vegas last week, bringing a focus on new products, hot trends and best practices.
The show attracts retailers to see what’s new and different, and this year was no exception. Dennis Orem, president of Jerry’s Home Improvement Centers in Oregon, brought eight buyers to the show.
“We’re looking for new stuff,” he said. A group of buyers from Amazon.com marveled at a cylinder-shaped stainless steel grill in the New Product Launch Spotlight. Made by Fuego, the “Element” gas grill featured a swing-out wood prep tray and a pizza stone. Glass cases with spotlights illuminated other brand new items in the plumbing, electrical, hardware, tools, paint, lawn and garden categories.
Attendees roamed the exhibit halls, searching out new products, meeting up with old friends and reconnecting with business contacts from all over the globe. Andy Vaughan, director of the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA), said he was “having a look at what’s coming” as he strolled through the Inventors’ Spotlight section in the Central Hall. Interviewed in front of the Cordotz booth -- they make organizers and storage products for electrical cords -- Vaughan said he also gets “a feel for the marketplace” from the National Hardware Show.
“The trends of the U.S. are relevant to what’s happening to Europe,” he said.
Returning vendors also introduced new products, such as Ultra Hardware’s “Black Dog” line of padlocks. “Some of our larger distributors are just starting to carry it, and we’re out here to introduce it to the rest of the industry,” said company VP Rob Munin. The line will feature locks for outdoor sheds, bikes, storefronts and other applications.
The show featured a new-and-improved educational component that brought speakers, panels and presentations to a central stage sponsored by the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA). It was here where NRHA managing director Bill Lee described the environment for retailers in the last nine months. "It has been scary," he said. "It has been exhausting; it has been challenging to try to figure out what's going on in the marketplace."
He went on to voice a familiar theme at the 2009 show: "People still love their homes and will continue to maintain and beautify those homes."
Attendance at the show was a much-discussed topic -- as it always is at trade shows. Participation was difficult to estimate (official attendance figures were not available.) Show organizers expected a decline from the previous year, pointing to the economy and results at other trade shows in 2009.
The conditions made it more important than most years to participate and find advantages, according to Ed Several, group VP National Hardware Show. "In today's economic environment, home improvement and DIY retailers are hard pressed to gain competitive advantage when consumers are shifting the way they perceive and maintain the investment in their homes," he said.
A session called "Independent Insights: Reaching out to the independent market" was about opportunities for manufacturers to expand into the independent hardware store market. "The independent channel is a viable, growing segment of the industry, especially if their specialty is repair and maintenance," said Scott Wright, manager of training and custom publishing for the NRHA. "They will be loyal to you and your brand if you give them what they want."
He pointed to stats that show the strength of independents: 2008 comp-store sales were down 8.7% for Home Depot and 7.2% for Lowe's, but just 2.3% and 2.1% for Ace Hardware and True Value, respectively.
Offering lower price points, managing cash flow and maintaining quality are three of the things hardware industry executives are doing to keep their businesses as strong as possible in this struggling economy.
“It’s important to have products at a reasonable price that people will buy on impulse,” said Ben Reid, branch manager of Reliable Parts in Tukwila, Wash. In fact, Reid was attending the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas in search of appliance parts at lower price points. “Right now, there’s a lot of high end stuff on the market, but people aren’t looking for that. I need to bring in lower price points to get people coming back into our store.”
Barry Dinetz is president of Kit Industries, a machinery and tools business in Cinnaminson, N.J., on the outskirts of Philadelphia. He said that in a tough economy, it’s more important than ever to promote the store through advertising and by building up his Web site. “Because of the tight credit market, it’s important to offer customers incentives to shop,” he said. “My Web site has been a big help in generating sales, so I keep adding to it. That’s where the growth is coming from.”