ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Stew Leonard, Jr., CEO of acclaimed food retailer Stew Leonard??s, has been announced as an Opening General Session speaker for the NACS Show, which will take place October 5 to 8 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
Last week, President George W. Bush was announced as a NACS Show Closing General Session speaker.
Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, the family-owned and operated fresh food grocer Stew Leonard??s generates annual sales of nearly $400 million. The company operates four grocery stores and eight wine stores and has been selected to Fortune??s "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list for the past nine years.
The New York Times has called the company the "Disneyland of Dairy Stores" because of the experiential nature of its stores, which includes costumed characters, scheduled entertainment, petting zoos and animatronics throughout the stores. The company also has received worldwide acclaim for excellence in customer service and quality and is featured in two of management expert Tom Peter??s books. This focus on serving customers earned the company another unique honor: In 1992, Stew Leonard??s earned an entry into The Guinness Book of World Records for having "the greatest sales per unit area of any single food store in the United States."
"Stew Leonard??s practical ideas to build teams, empower employees and continually innovate to improve quality make him a perfect Opening General Session speaker," said Dave Carpenter, NACS Vice Chairman of Convention and president and CEO of J.D. Carpenter Companies Inc. "Stew??s obsession with serving the customer provides many examples that can easily be adapted to any business or industry, especially as foodservice becomes more critical to convenience retailers."
More than 22,500 attendees were at the NACS Show last year - a 6 percent increase over 2008 attendance. The number of attendees classified as "buyers" (retailers, wholesalers and distributors) jumped 16 percent to reach 8,584, the second-largest total ever for a NACS Show.
Last year??s NACS Show featured a 350,000-plus net-square-foot exposition floor with 1,222 exhibiting companies - including a record 338 new companies, 66 workshops and three days of general sessions.
In February 2010, the NACS Show was again named the top trade show in the United States for "buying power" and second overall for buying plans according to the latest annual report on U.S. trade shows developed by Exhibit Surveys, Inc.
The 2010 NACS Show will take place October 5 to 8 at Georgia World Congress Center. Online registration, as well as the latest news and updates, are available online.