Afew questions with Ed Several

When Ed Several took over as National Hardware Show director last June, he began meeting with industry executives across the country to determine how the show could become a more effective tool for both exhibitors and attendees. What his team came up with was an event that has been reorganized to emphasize industry trends, such as staycation and storage and organization. On the back end, the show is stepping up its educational component with best practices and idea exchanges.

One specific goal that emerged was to help attendees capitalize on the transformation from the consumer’s do-it-for-me mindset to a do-it-yourself mindset.

Several is no stranger to the big stage—he continues to oversee other Reed properties—the PGA Merchandise Show, the PGA Fall Expo and the Outdoor Sports Show.

HCN: What are some of the new features people can expect to see at the show?

Several: We’re actually building a beautiful stage in the lobby of the central hall, and that’s going to become the pulse of the show, where there will be an opportunity for proprietary research to be presented by the National Retail Hardware Association (NRHA), as well as others, to really share vital insights that will enable attending customers to get a better view of what’s going on in this industry. We have another forum where there will be designers from the Outdoor Living area who will be sharing fashion trends. So we’ve created areas of the show—stages, forums, interactive events—to really be able to take what used to be hallway conversation and networking and really learn from each other to make it a more formal approach so everyone gets a chance to listen, learn and really benefit from the show.

HCN: What would you say is the single most important trend influencing the hardware industry today?

Several: It’s really pretty simple: the home improvement marketplace is robust, and if marketed and managed well, you can make money at it. We’ll break it down into four areas. First, there’s a huge opportunity for retailers to recognize the transformation from the do-it-for-me to the do-it-yourself customer and to be able to bring in products, services and merchandising ideas to be able to take advantage of this new consumer. Another piece to those four marketing elements is staycation—the idea that people are not just staying home for vacations, but they’re staying in their houses more often, and their house needs to be comfortable. Then there’s saving energy, which means saving money. And finally, of course, is the whole green movement and how that impacts retailing.

HCN: To what extent is attendance this year being affected by the economy and, particularly, the struggling housing industry?

Several: We have two sides of that. First, from a positive standpoint, we have many more of what we call our “key accounts” coming. Like with anything, total attendance is slightly behind a year ago, and we certainly see people who were coming to the show just to kind of look around and who didn’t have a true buying role potentially choosing not to come at this point. But what we’re excited about is that the key retailers are there, and they’re bringing their buying teams, so we believe there will be a lot of transactions taking place.

HCN: How about the number of participating vendors?

Several: Right now, domestically, we’re up. Our paint section will actually be 250 companies versus 180 last year. But in total, we are going to be down. We’re at 2,800 versus 3,500 last year. However, the gap is our international vendors, particularly China. We actually had a pretty strong decline in our Chinese vendors coming over, driven by the fact that orders have certainly declined, and some of the opportunities for capacity are not there. What we are very excited about are the number of companies returning that have not been with us, including DAP, Char-Broil, Black & Decker, Leatherman, Gladiator, Purdy, Wooster, Vermont American, Fluidmaster and others.

HCN: Do you get a sense why these vendors have chosen this year to return to the show?

Several: It’s interesting, because some of them were early up, like a Char-Broil, and some of them were late returners. We believe there is a sea change right now. Just in the last 30 days, the economy has begun to show a little bit of an uptick—you saw the latest housing reports that came out—and we believe a lot of these companies that were holding back are seeing this as an opportunity to get out there and not just see their current customers but build their customer base. And that’s a very important component of this year’s show: expanding the customer base. We’re going to help facilitate that at the show.

HCN: Any exciting new categories this year?

Several: Yes, storage and organization. Many retailers are focusing on this, and it’s not just about the closet anymore. Storage and organization really is part of everything, from outside sheds to garages, to work spaces, to mud rooms to kitchens. It really is a very important category, becoming even bigger within a retail footprint.

HCN: What can you tell me about companies like Gladiator GarageWorks and Char-Broil anchoring sections of the show?

Several: Char-Broil will be anchoring staycation, a very important area. We really want to drive home the idea of all of the benefits of merchandising staycation within a retail environment. Gladiator GarageWorks will anchor storage and organization, creating an area right on the show floor that will actually be a reproduction of a garage that is organized using their products. It’s interesting because retail is not just a static environment anymore; it’s a dynamic environment. Even in tough economic times, great products, serviced well and presented in a very exciting fashion, will sell.

HCN: What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about the show since coming on board?

Several: The industry is very vibrant, and that’s what gave us the energy to say, “Okay, this year’s show will be different.” This is no longer a trade show. This is an event where you can learn, share best practices, find some great deals, see new products being unveiled, and, most importantly, the time that it takes to attend the show and the dollar investment can very easily be paid back—two times over, at least—with the education, insights, new products and hot deals you can potentially get at the National Hardware Show.