NACS Show Success Continues

The size of the NACS Show expo increased 4% over 2012, featuring a 396,000-plus net-square-foot expo with 1,160 exhibiting companies.

October 29, 2013


ALEXANDRIA, VA – More than 22,000 attendees were once again at the 2013 NACS Show, which featured a record-setting 396,000 net-square-foot expo.

Total attendance was 22,263, with 7,874 classified as “buyers” (retailers, wholesalers and distributors). This count includes Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) buyer registration. Attendees from 63 countries were at the NACS Show, with total international attendance reaching 1,939 delegates.

The NACS Show took place October 12-15 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It is ranked the 48th largest trade show in the United States and is rated in the top 10 among U.S. trade shows for net buying influence, total buying plans and most hours spent visiting exhibits (Exhibitor Magazine, April 2013).

The size of the NACS Show exposition increased 4% over 2012, featuring a 396,000-plus net-square-foot expo with 1,160 exhibiting companies — of which 195 companies were new to the NACS Show. This year for the first time NACS offered exhibitors the ability to secure booth space online via NACSshow.com. By June 2013, the expo had completely sold out — the earliest sellout ever in NACS Show history. Over the next several months, more than 230 companies requested to be put on the waitlist for potential openings on the expo.

Exhibitors also invested more in their NACS Show “spend” this year by increasing overall booth space (5% over 2012), onsite meeting space and Show marketing opportunities. Extending the value of the expo to both retailers and exhibitors, the popular Cool New Products Preview Room featured 283 products and services, including from 52 first-time NACS Show exhibitors. 

In addition, the NACS Show featured three days of general sessions and 58 educational sessions. The educational sessions alone drew 12,000 attendees, averaging more than 200 attendees per session, the most ever recorded. Reflecting the growing international scope of the NACS Show, the general sessions were translated into Portuguese, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and select educational sessions were translated into Portuguese and Spanish.

New this year to the NACS Show were three evening networking events. Replacing the traditional Welcome Reception, approximately 2,000 Show attendees joined their peers at the NACS Show Kick-Off Party at Atlanta’s Restaurant Row on Saturday, October 12. On Sunday and Monday, two evening events took place immediately following NACS Show expo hours and attracted more than 2,000 attendees each: the NACS Show Tailgate Party and Convenience in Motion — 2014 NACS Show Launch Party.

Further enhancing networking and peer-to-peer interactions at the NACS Show, participation in the Ambassadors program increased 13% over 2012, reaching a record 410 exhibiting supplier company volunteers who helped attendees navigate the Georgia World Congress Center, locate educational sessions and provide directions to the expo halls.
 
“The strong exhibitor commitment to the NACS Show demonstrates that this event is an essential part of annual plans for both retailers and suppliers,” said NACS Vice Chairman of Convention Jack Kofdarali, president of Corona, California-based J & T Management Company Inc. “The record-setting expo, combined with our motivational and inspiring keynote speakers, leading content experts in the educational sessions and our new networking events, prove to me that each year the NACS Show is an indispensable event that I cannot afford to miss.”

“The growth of the NACS Show is impressive, and it’s also a clear indicator that the supplier community is serious about partnering with convenience store operators to leverage business connections and solidify their position within this dynamic and highly innovative retail channel of trade,” said NACS Supplier Board Chairman Bob Sears, director, trade & state relations, training & compliance at Altria Group Distribution Co. “Investing in the NACS Show, participating in networking events and engaging with current and potential customers offers an immediate ROI for exhibiting companies that take full advantage of the opportunities available to them at the NACS Show — and beyond.”

Earlier this year NACS partnered with GenieConnect to offer a new NACS Events mobile app and the MyShow Planner online tool for attendees to pre-schedule the events and sessions and map out the exhibitors they wanted to visit at the NACS Show. Usage for the NACS Events app increased 32% over the previous 2012 NACS Show mobile app, reaching nearly 11,800 downloads.

Also new this year, retailers attending the NACS Show received the first-ever NACS Show Product Bag, which was full of product samples and literature from more than 30 exhibiting companies. By the end of the Show, NACS staff handed out 3,000 bags.

At the conclusion of the NACS Show, a total of 47 tons (93,438 pounds) of leftover product from exhibitors was donated to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which delivers food and groceries to Food pantries, community kitchens, childcare centers, night shelters and senior centers in 29 metro Atlanta and north Georgia counties. 

The convenience and fuel retailing industry’s value proposition continues to be embraced by consumers, as noted by several NACS Show general session speakers. The U.S. convenience store industry conducts 160 million transactions per day and sells 80% of all motor fuels in the country. The U.S. convenience store industry, with more than 149,220 convenience stores across the country — or one per approximately every 2,100 consumers — posted $700 billion in total sales in 2012, of which $501 billion were motor fuels sales.

In addition to networking, the expo and learnings found in the educational sessions, the NACS Show is also a business meeting. At the conclusion of the event, Brad Call, vice president of adventure culture at North Salt Lake City, Utah-based Maverik, was named the association’s 2013-2014 chairman. Call also chairs the NACS Executive Committee, which provides strategic direction and financial oversight to the association.

Also named to the NACS Executive Committee were the following NACS retail members:
• NACS Vice Chairman-Treasurer: Steve Loehr, vice president of operations support at LaCrosse, Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip Inc.
• NACS Vice Chairman of Government Relations and of NACSPAC: Peter Tedeschi, president and CEO at Rockland, Massachusetts-based Tedeschi Food Shops
• NACS Vice Chairman of Convention: Jack Kofdarali, president at Corona, California-based J&T Management Inc.
• NACS Vice Chairman of Research: Joseph Sheetz, president and CEO at Altoona, Pennsylvania-based Sheetz Inc.
• NACS Vice Chairman of Member Services: Rahim Budhwani, CEO at Hoover, Alabama-based 6040 LLC
• NACS Vice Chairman of International: Frank Gleeson, retail director at Dublin, Ireland-based Topaz Energy Group Limited
• NACS Vice Chairman: Tony Kenney, president, at Enon, Ohio-based Speedway LLC

NACS also named four new members to its Board of Directors:
• Tim Chalk, CEO, 7-Eleven Hong Kong & Macau
• Steve DeSutter, president and CEO, Stripes LLC
• Chris Gheysens, president and CEO, Wawa Inc.
• Leo Vercollone, president and CEO, Verc Enterprises Inc.

On the supplier side, Bob Sears, director of trade & state relations and training & compliance for Altria Group Distribution Company, was named 2013-2014 chairman of the NACS Supplier Board. Joe Vonder Haar, managing partner of iSEE Store Innovations Inc., was named chair-elect and will succeed Sears as 2014-2015 chairman.

The 2014 NACS Show will take place October 7-10 in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Highlights from the 2013 NACS Show and information on next year’s event can be found at nacsshow.com.

NACS has held an annual meeting every year since its founding in 1961, but it wasn’t until 1976 that the meeting included a full-scale expo, which was part of the meeting every two or three years. The annual meeting became the annual NACS Show in 1993. The Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA) has held its Fall Meeting as part of the NACS Show since in 1995 and PEI has held its annual meeting as part of the NACS Show since in 2002. Today, the NACS Show is rotated between three cities: Chicago, Las Vegas and Atlanta.

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