Wide span of products

The National Hardware Show will be held from 8 – 10 May, not in Las Vegas this year, but for just the one time at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. For the first time the Homewares Show is to be staged contemporaneously, resulting in yet a further expansion this year of the steadily growing range of product categories. New additions include air purifiers, storage systems, floor coverings and care products, cookware, kitchen accessories, giftware, decorative lighting and décor, plus a small selection from the electrical category. The new fair is designed to take into account the increasing level of sales notched up by retailers in this segment. “We have created this event as a direct answer to the procurement wishes of visitors from the retail scene,” says Rob Cappiello, Industry Vice President of the National Hardware Show. “The new Homewares Show will be a time-saving and efficient opportunity for manufacturers to make contact with buyers.”Consequently visitors will this year have the choice of four events under the one roof: the National Hardware Show, Lawn & Garden World, the new Homewares Show, and the Gourmet Housewares Show, which is expecting around 400 exhibitors. The palette of products on offer is correspondingly broad, ranging as it does from tools and hardware through to paint and decoration, lawns and garden, and to products for the home, including electrical appliances and storage systems as well.The organisers expect over 3 200 exhibitors to attend the industry event in Orlando. This year again they will be presenting a great number of new products, which will be grouped together in separate exhibition areas. One New Product World will be situated in the main hall, and another one in the Lawn & Garden section.Innovations are the backbone of the retail trade, which is why the National Hardware Show has created an “Inventors Spotlight”, a special show for newly developed products. Here it is intended to present new ideas from smaller companies, with a maximum of two products from each. The area is located in the direct vicinity of the New Product World in the north hall. On display will be product developments that have been on the market for less than a year. This new selection is intended to offer retailers a source for procuring innovative products which can then be used to differentiate them from the competition in the keenly contested marketplace. The organisers have been able to attract the non-profit…