New directions for the future

In the year 2000 the National Hardware Show (NHS) occupied about 120 000 m² of exhibition space and boasted 5 000 exhibitors, who filled every square centimetre of McCormick Place. At that time it was still questionable whether Chicago or Cologne was the leading trade show serving the international hardware industry. However, this year it has become quite obvious that Practical World in Cologne is the dominant event and likely to remain so for quite some time to come.
From 2004 the NHS will include a garden sector.
For there were only 2 000 exhibitors occupying a space of 42 000 m² at this year’s National Hardware Show, which was held in association with International Hardware Week. The attraction of the fair for visitors was also diminished, due in part to the global economic situation.
There were no queues for taxis or buses at the entrance, aisles were mainly easy to navigate, and the refreshment facilities were never crowded. Much to the advantage of visiting buyers, since they had ample opportunity to sit down and negotiate with key personnel at most stands, without having long to wait, if at all.
But there still were 2 000 exhibitors to visit, tens of thousands of products to examine, hundreds of marketing programmes to evaluate. An American hardware show is vital to the continuing growth of the industry, especially for Latin American buyers, who can in three days make contact with manufacturers of every conceivable kind of DIY product.
Mood of uncertainty
As always in earlier years, seminars and talks provided food for thought as speakers reported on and analysed economic and business trends.
But the over-riding question on the minds of exhibitors and visitors alike was, “What’s going to happen next year?”
In 2004 the National Hardware Show, conducted by Reed Exhibitions, is moving to Las Vegas where it will take place from 10 to 12 May. The American Hardware Manufacturers Association (AHMA), on the other hand, which has conducted International Hardware Week and seminars in conjunction with NHS, is no longer affiliated to Reed and will be conducting its own AHMA Hardware Show at McCormick Place approximately four weeks after Practical World in Cologne. In addition to these changes, the International Housewares Association is expanding into the areas of lawn, garden and patio for its fair at McCormick Place, to be held from 20 to 22 March.
2 000 exhibitors present their products and services at the NHS in Chicago, 10-12 August.
Both shows will be offering…