Total Store Expo 2.0

ARLINGTON, Va. — It may be about six months until the doors open for the 2014 National Association of Chain Drug Stores Total Store Expo, but energy is already building, with more than 90% of the show-floor already sold out.

The mega show — which combines front-end, pharmacy and supply chain — will be held Aug. 23 to 26 at the Boston Convention Center.

The plan is to “take all that was good [from] the inaugural [TSE] and continue it in Boston,” said Jim Whitman, SVP of member programs and services at NACDS. “We will also try to do some tweaking to make it even better. But the traditional format will remain pretty much the same because the format worked.”

More than 5,000 people gathered for the first TSE last August, and according to an NACDS survey, 92% planned to return in 2014. So far, early registration bears that out.

Whitman encouraged attendees to check out NACDS’ revised website. Whitman said he expects the new website, which will be rolled out in the coming weeks, “will be faster and more on point.”

“We have a tremendous amount of resources on the website for you to start your work early in the process,” Whitman said. “... You will be able to access material, we believe, faster and more directly on point.”

NACDS also will leverage its NACDS.TV, which is a video resource for TSE, to increasingly build a communication vehicle as the 2014 event draws near.