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More than 6,000 face-to-face appointments took place in less than three days between buyers and vendors of the lawn, garden and pet industries at the 2011 National Lawn & Garden Show, held in June at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare.
For 17 years, National Lawn & Garden Show has designed an event unlike any other show in the industry, pairing buyers and vendors face to face in preset, scheduled appointments. This year, more than 250 attendees gathered to meet face to face in an effort to buy and sell products.
Vendors and buyers met during 10 minute sessions throughout the event, allowing some attendees to have as many as 40-50 total scheduled appointments. “I prefer the meeting format vs. standing in a booth and hoping someone stops in,” said Brad Yount of DeWitt Company. “It’s an incredibly productive and economical choice for our company, and that is why we have attended for the past 17 years.”
Like its predecessors, the 2012 NLGS event, set for June 11-13 in Dallas, will be crafted to create a personalized schedule unique to every vendor and buyer who attends the event.
Both U.S. and international vendors can anticipate guaranteed appointments and guaranteed results. “Our sole mission since 1995 has been to provide an affordable, efficient, alternative to traditional tradeshows, which assures buyer/vendor introductions in preset scheduled appointments, said Bob Mikulas, president and founder. “We love what we do and wouldn’t change it for the world.”
The 2011 event saw a rise in the number of international vendors and buyers and also a new Pet Products Division was added to the show lineup. The lawn & garden industry recognizes NLGS as the most exclusive and productive event in the industry for Lawn & Garden products. The event is known for bringing in the “mid tier” buyers who inclusively represent 90 percent of the merchandising opportunities in the U.S. Historically NLGS has had 14 out of the top 20 Lawn & Garden retailers in the U.S. attend the NLGS event.