By Justyn Dillingham
It's time to pack up and head south—for
the Southern Association of Wholesale Distributors' annual
convention, that is.
According to SAWD, its 14 member states
encompass 46 percent of all convenience stores in the United
States—or more than 66,653 stores in all—and the majority of
these stores obtain their services from SAWD members.
“It is a buying trade show,” said
Greg Martin, Chief Executive Officer of SAWD. “It's open to
wholesale distributors in the convenience store and grocery
industries. The folks walking the aisles will be convenience store
wholesalers.”
The show gives the region's
manufacturers and wholesalers a unique opportunity to meet and talk,
and attendees say they make the most of the opportunity.
“We do a lot of networking at the
show and learn a lot from our peers,” said Thomas Massey, Sales
Manager at Stewart Candy Company, which has been attending the show
for 12 years. “We'll just be seeing new items and meeting with
manufacturers.”
Massey said the atmosphere at the show
was always friendly in spirit, encouraging making connections as well
as mutual exchange of ideas.
“It's a Southern camaraderie, I
guess you'd say it is,” Massey said. “It's mostly family-owned
businesses that share a lot of knowledge with each other.”
“We're looking for increased
exposure, free contacts, new clients,” said Gary Cornwell, Chief
Operating Officer at Galactic Ltd. “We just view it as a way to
solidify our relationships.”
Martin said the show seeks to
accomplish three major things: to provide networking opportunities
for wholesalers, to provide industry-specific educational
opportunities and to function as a traditional trade show.
The show provides a venue to unveil new
ideas; Galactic will be introducing MPG Rewards, a program that
enables distributors to reduce their fuel costs by three to five
percent, Cornwell said. It also provides an opportunity to learn,
whether about specific aspects of the industry or more general
business concerns.
“What drives the difference in our
shows from year to year is the difference in our education programs,”
Martin said. “We try to make sure that they're timely. That's the
goal.”
This year's speakers include Bruce
Wilkinson, who will speak on “One Voice Leadership: The Key to
Personal and Organizational Success” and lead a workshop on
“Surviving the Storms of Change: Leadership Lessons From Hurricane
Katrina”; Ashley Gillihan, who will speak on the recent health care
legislation; David B. Riser, who will speak on recent state and
federal legislation relating to the industry; and Viv R. Penninti,
who will lead a workshop on “How Sales Data Will Help Your
Competitors Beat You.”
It's a schedule that, with its emphasis
on adjusting to a changing world, reflects today's business
environment. While the last two years have been a pressing time for
many U.S. industries, Martin said that the convenience store industry
has weathered the economic storm surprisingly well.
“You've got more folks shopping in
convenience stores now than they ever have otherwise, so it has not
been the negative driver that perhaps it would appear to be,”
Martin said.
The SAWD 2010
Annual Meeting and Exposition is June
18-19, 2010 at the Savannah International Convention Center in
Savannah, Ga. For more information and a list of events, visit
www.the-southern.org.
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