The 2011 National Hardware Show® will be the place to be for the industry’s biggest brands – with several major players returning to the Show and over 500 newcomers making their debut at the nearly sold-out event, to be held May 10-12 in Las Vegas. Top brands will make their presence felt across seven major categories at the Show: Hardware & Tools; Homewares; Lawn & Garden/Outdoor Living; Paint & Accessories; Plumbing & Electrical; Storage & Organization; and Tailgating, Camping & Picnic, with core product categories also being showcased in the Show's International Sourcing area.
“There is an excitement building, as more and more top brand names are signing up to participate,” said Rich Russo, event director, National Hardware Show. “We are thrilled to have market leaders in several product categories joining us to unveil their latest and greatest product innovations to the industry’s top buyers.”
The 2011 National Hardware Show® will feature category leaders like 3M (paint), The Coleman Company, Inc. (camping and outdoor equipment), Butler (housewares), The Scotts Co. (lawn & garden), Robert Bosch Tool Corporation (hardware), Char-broil (grills and accessories) and Osram Sylvania (light bulbs). Jarden Safety & Security, the market leader in home products, will have an interactive booth that will showcase its First Alert, SecureLine and Crawford products in a functional setting. The company will also make several product introductions under its Crawford, SecureLine and Onelink brand names.
“Jarden Safety & Security’s brands are leaders in offering trusted products that alert, secure, protect and guard families and their lifestyles,” said David Himmel, Jarden’s brand manager/copywriter. “Our innovative products are aimed at improving the consumer experience, and the National Hardware Show is a prime opportunity to present ourselves to the industry.”
“As a leader in the industry, 3M thinks it's critical that we be part of this internationally attended event. All of our key international customers attend the show offering us the opportunity to meet and share. The two-way dialogue is powerful,” said Sara John, 3M Construction and Home Improvements Markets Division.
Mythic® Paint – known for its environmentally safe, high performance products – will be returning to the Show after exhibiting in 2008 and 2009. The Hattiesburg, Miss.-based company, whose tag line is “safe for people, safe for pets, safe for the earth,” plans to come back with a bang – making some big announcements at the 2011 event. “The economy is turning around, and we have some exciting things planned for this year that we will release at the National Hardware Show,” said Bob Jessop, trade show coordinator for Mythic paint. “Show attendance was up last year, which is a good sign, and the demographic of the attendees has changed to include more independent hardware stores. We thought this was a good time for us to jump back in.”
The newly coined “National Hardware Show® held in conjunction with the NRHA All-Industry Convention” will incorporate all of the programming the NRHA currently offers at its annual meeting - including the Young Retailer of the Year and Retail Innovators of the Year awards - while allowing the two organizations to more fully serve the industry in one annual gathering. “A New Way to Market” will be the major theme of the 2011 event, which promises to expand on an already impressive list of global attendees, not only from traditional retail and wholesale outlets but additional channels like grocery, mass, drug, catalog and the Internet - all representing almost $240 billion in sales revenue. In addition, the Show will continue to offer exciting special events, including product demonstrations, NRHA TV and Social Networking Roundtables, as well as informative addresses by industry experts.
Buyers from some of the industry’s biggest retailers, wholesalers and distributors are excited about the rich lineup of brands signed up for this year’s Show. “This show has the widest breadth of product assortment and vendors under one roof,” said Rich Neal, manager, consumer marketing for Oak Grove, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corporation, who has been attending the Show since joining Ace three years ago. “The NHS does a fantastic job creating a destination for all major brands and categories, while also being a great forum for new products, brands and classification. I always find innovative, new products at every show. If a hardware/home improvement vendor or retailer could attend just one show, this is the show. Also, make sure you leave enough time to see everything – the show is huge!”
Another regular attendee is Shawn Parsons, director of marketing/East for Baltimore-based Commerce Corporation, which a distributor of lawn & garden products that sells to a base of 3,500 independent retailers. It’s his department’s job to manage the company’s vendor partners and provide retail customers with the best product selection possible.
“The National Hardware show is an extremely valuable show for us in terms of timing, new vendors, industry news and maintaining ongoing supplier relationships,” said Parsons, who attends the show with a minimum of 12 Commerce Corporations representatives from marketing, sales and top management. “We are always impressed with the NHS selection of Lawn & Garden vendors, including new and existing brands. We use the show as a chance to meet with our biggest suppliers and discover new lines for our retailer base. The show balances large and small vendors extremely well, and puts a lot of effort into featuring brand new products, which are a key factor in our customers’ sales growth.”
For further information please contact:
Lisa Girard: PR Director
Tel: 203.807.6018
Fax: 732.526.7451
Email: lgirard@reedexpo.com