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Your Guide to the National Hardware Show® and NRHA All-Industry Conference

Retailers, distributors, manufacturers and other players in the home improvement industry will have business on their minds this May as they descend on Las Vegas for the NRHA All-Industry Conference and the National Hardware Show®.

The Conference, which is free to all retailers and runs May 6-8, will showcase everything from new products and vendor networking events to industry awards and educational opportunities. Being the go-to show for home improvement channel leaders for more than 68 years has earned the National Hardware Show the title as largest gathering of independent home improvement retailers around the world.

And as retailers who have attended before can attest, it’s an event they never miss and an opportunity to tie two shows into one trip and get the most bang for their bucks.

“I go to the National Hardware Show to see new products and get fresh merchandising ideas for our stores,” says T.J. Comstock, owner of Northwest Hardware in Billings, Mont. “I like to look for new items and items I think will be the next big trends for consumers.”

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More For Your Money

Held in conjunction with the National Hardware Show, the NRHA All-Industry Conference will return to Vegas as a gathering place for the industry in the main concourse of the Las Vegas Convention Center Central Hall, just off the show floor.  

Dubbed the NRHA Village, this area will not only serve as a nerve center to showcase all the programs and services retailers have available to them through the association, but will also feature a stage with educational programming opportunities scheduled throughout the duration of the show. This year’s Conference theme is “Trend Spotting,” and speakers will address some of the hottest topics in retail today, including homebuying preferences, emerging consumer demographics and market data.

“I like to use my time at the National Hardware Show to learn about trends and news. I enjoy the fantastic lineup of speakers as well as the informative breakout sessions,” says Adam Busscher, owner of Picton Home Hardware in Picton, Ontario.

Two of the most anticipated speakers include Mark Herbek, an Amazon specialist with the Cleveland Research Company, who will share trends and reports regarding Amazon’s continued growth and business habits, and Jill Waage from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, who will reveal data focused on millennials from a recent research campaign the magazine conducted, as well as offer ideas about how to attract the next generation of homebuyers.

For a complete schedule of events for the National Hardware Show and NRHA All-Industry Conference, click here.

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Plan Your Attack

With all the events throughout the National Hardware Show®, the many networking opportunities and the thousands of vendor booths to see, attendees may have difficulty organizing their schedules to get the most out of their time in Las Vegas. 

To help, organizers of the show created the 2014 National Hardware Show mobile directory called NHSMobile2Go. This directory is available for smartphone users and has everything an attendee needs, including exhibitor lists, a schedule of events, featured products, exclusive show specials and a floor plan. 

With the app, you can:

  • Build your Personal National Hardware Show Agenda and sync to your free My Show Planner
  • Search and add exhibitors to your “Favorites” lists
  • Schedule meetings with exhibitors, request callbacks and sync to your calendar
  • View and add networking events to your agenda
  • Navigate the show floor with interactive maps and
  • point-to-point routing
  • Receive exclusive National Hardware Show new product sightings and announcements, show specials and discounts and event alerts
  • Find show services and more

To download the app, go to www.NHSMobile.com.

About Amanda Bell

Amanda Bell was an assistant editor of Hardware Retailing and NRHA. Amanda regularly visited with home improvement retailers across the country and attended industry events and seminars. She earned a degree in magazine journalism from Ball State University and has received honors for her work for Hardware Retailing from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.

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