10/26/04
| NACS Show 2004 Reached New Heights |
ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Although final attendance figures for the NACS Show 2004 will not be available until mid-November, preliminary figures show that the event attracted a record number of retailer attendees and was the largest exposition ever.
Even before the Show floor opened, and not including the strong on-site registration, a record number of "buyers"--retailers, wholesalers and distributors--had registered for the NACS Show.
"We are very pleased with the strong support that the convenience store and petroleum-marketing industry gave the NACS Show 2004," said NACS Show 2004 Chairman Bill Douglass. Douglass, CEO of Sherman, Texas-based Douglass Distributing Co., also is NACS 2005 chairman of the Board.
"These preliminary figures confirm what we heard on the Show floor--the NACS Show continues to be the one-stop place for the industry to do business," added NACS Senior Vice President of Events, Marketing and Supplier Relations Jane Berzan.
Buyers on the Show floor were able to see new products and services from approximately 1,400 exhibitors that filled a NACS Show record 378,000 net square feet of exhibition space at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This year the Show floor sold out nearly two months earlier than it did in 2003.
"The early sellout speaks to the terrific support from the convenience industry suppliers who continue to view the NACS Show as an important and viable venue for connecting with their customers--retailers, wholesalers and distributors," said Berzan. "All of our initial numbers--as well as the extremely positive feedback we heard from both retailers and suppliers--reinforce that our industry continues to value the face-to-face connections and industry-specific educational programs available at the NACS Show."
Attendees aren't the only ones who benefited from the NACS Show--two organizations, Operation Interdependence (OI) and The Community Food Bank of Clark County (Nevada)--gathered surplus products at the NACS Show and distributed them after the Show.
"We were in awe with the products we received to make c-rats [combat rations]," said Albert R. Renteria, founder and CEO of OI, the premier civilian-to-military delivery system in the United States responsible for sending care packages to military troops. Care packages come filled with a wide variety of products, such as toothbrushes, soaps, shampoo, packaged small foods, dry drink mixes, and pens and pencils. The packages also contain enough Ziplock bags--an important item that personnel use to keep valuables protected from sand, dirt and water--to support the entire platoon or group.
"We met so many fantastic people; the convention was a huge success for OI," Renteria said, noting that the NACS Show contributions will enable the organization to reach 24,000 troops.
Exhibitors also donated an estimated 100,000 pounds of product, filling eight full trailers, to The Community Food Bank of Clark County, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to feeding the hungry and fighting the underlying causes of hunger.
News stories, photos, workshop presentations and a complete exhibitor directory from the NACS Show 2004 can be found at www.nacsshow.com. Registration for the NACS Show 2005 will open in early April 2005.
Here are the dates and locations of the NACS Show through 2007: