NACDS: 100 days until retailers, suppliers convene for 2012 Marketplace Conference
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores announced on Wednesday that there are 100 days until the commencement of the NACDS 2012 Marketplace Conference.
The conference, which will be held June 23 to 26 in Denver, Colo., will include educational and business opportunities for key retail decision makers to hold face-to-face meetings with their drug, food, mass and specialty retail suppliers.
“Forging relationships is essential for retailers and suppliers alike, and this year’s NACDS Marketplace Conference will help trading partners come together to do business and make deals,” NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson said. “The four-day NACDS Marketplace Conference is often only the first step to long and prosperous business relationships that help innovative products and long-time consumer staples reach store shelves and enter American homes.”
The event also includes a “Meet the Market” appointment program, which pairs suppliers and manufacturers with retailers for personalized meetings that often lead to ongoing trade floor discussions and business agreements. The one-day “Meet the Market” event, a cornerstone of the conference, has generated more than 8,000 individualized appointments and business opportunities in previous years. The 2012 NACDS Marketplace Conference also will feature educational sessions, including the “Meet the Retailer/How to Do Business With…” seminars where chain retail executives offer effective strategies for suppliers to get their products noticed and to market.
More than 230 retail companies, representing more than 145,000 retail outlets and $500 billion in annual buying power, attend the event. Attendees also include representatives from leading and emerging business that account for more than 90% of the consumer packaged goods industry.
As NACDS gears up for its new trade and business development show in 2013 — the NACDS Total Store Expo — participants in the Marketplace Conference and Pharmacy & Technology Conference will be offered the opportunity to purchase their booth (or booths) for the inaugural NACDS Total Store Expo to jumpstart their planning during the 2012 Marketplace Conference.
“The success of the NACDS Marketplace Conference is not possible without the dedication of retailer and supplier participants and the business and opportunities they bring to the event each year, and we look forward to that same caliber and energy from participants for the NACDS 2013 Total Store Expo. Therefore it’s only appropriate to launch booth sales for the very first Total Store Expo during this year’s Marketplace Conference, giving companies significant lead time to begin their planning,” Anderson added.