Independent home improvement retailers from around the world gathered for the Orgill Spring Dealer Market, which occurred at the Orange County Convention Center. The event featured vendors from across the industry, special buys and Market- only specials, networking opportunities and much more.

"We always look forward to our Dealer Markets because they give us the opportunity to interact with our customers and provide them with a wide range of products, programs and services to drive their businesses," says Ron Beal,

Orgill’s chairman, president and CEO. "We’re excited to share all that Orgill has to offer. Orlando is a great host city, and we know retailers will have a productive few days as they explore the Market floor."

The Spring Dealer Market covered approximately 1 million square feet of space, providing plenty of room for thousands of vendors attending the event to show off their latest and greatest selection of products, as well as opportunities for retailers to shop items from all the major home improvement categories.

"Our merchants and vendors have teamed up to add the items our customers want," says Jeff Curler, senior vice president of purchasing. "Many products are being offered at deeply discounted prices, and a number of our vendors are offering creative merchandising ideas to help retailers stand out from the competition."

Around the perimeter of the Market floor were a number of promotional areas, including Door Busters, Pallet Buys, New Items and more. In these areas, attendees could shop for products at low, Market-only prices.

In the center of the show floor, visitors found the 17,000-square-foot Retail Services area, where they could meet with Orgill representatives and learn more about programs such as Market Driven Retailing, Smart Start, Hardware 101 and many more. Members of the e-commerce, Brand Building and other teams were available in the Retail Services area to meet with retailers and answer questions.

 

Outside the convention center itself, retailers could find the Outdoor Grilling Area, which made its debut at the Market last summer in Boston. This area highlighted products from the outdoor living, grilling and tailgate categories.

Two particularly popular areas of the show floor were the concept stores, where two full-size model stores were set up, showcasing real-life displays, product assortments and merchandising techniques.

Central Tool & Building Supply is a pro-focused, 8,000-square-foot store that’s also 100-percent Canadian-compliant. Its primary niche is hand and power tools, but it also offers a deep selection of paint and sundries, plumbing, and electrical products.

The second concept store is Green River Hardware & Garden, which encompasses 15,000-square-foot and showcases space-saving techniques by stocking a 25,000 SKU count. Niches include outdoor power equipment, outdoor living and lawn and garden.

"Our customers are looking for ideas of how to use their space effectively, especially by best utilizing the footprint they currently have, rather than expanding," said Phillip Walker, senior vice president of merchandising services. "In this model store, we’re showing them a number of solutions."

Also popular were the Product Showcases, which highlighted the breadth of product Orgill offers in certain categories. The Showcases at this Market focused on construction fasteners, rental, impulse and worldwide sourcing. The seasonal flex showcase displayed how retailers can adapt their assortments with the seasons to gain year-round sales.

The Retail Services area at the center of the Market floor included a Learning Center of nearly 5,000 square feet. It played host to many of Orgill’s various clinics and workshops, which covered a variety of business and industry topics to help keep retailers on top of trends and offer them a way to gain new knowledge that they can take home to their businesses.

Some of the educational opportunities included "Retail Pricing," "Social Media in the Real World," "Should You Sell on Amazon?" and "Why Loyalty Marketing Works." Other clinics and workshops covered topics such as marketing tactics, strong in-store promotional efforts and cybersecurity.

Orgill’s Fall Dealer Market will be Aug. 23-25 at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas.

For more information about Orgill, visit www.orgill.com.