Outgoing president Steve Johnson, left, and incoming president Chris Freed

By Steven Feldman
INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—The National Association of Floor Covering Distributors’ (NAFCD) initial Distributor Marketplace was a resounding success. So said the many distributor and manufacturer members who participated in the organization’s 35th annual meeting held here Oct. 19 to 21.

More than 70 manufacturers exhibited at the Marketplace, which served as a mini trade show of sorts. The goal for most was to either fill a geographical void in their distribution network, upgrade a particular territory or preview a new product or two to existing wholesalers in a setting more intimate than Surfaces or Coverings. Then there were those that chose the Marketplace as their coming-out party, starting from square one in the formation of their distribution network.

According to convention chair and incoming NAFCD president Chris Freed, president of J.H. Freed and Sons in San Diego, the Marketplace was born out of a strategic planning meeting in the spring of 2005. “We kept asking ourselves what new values were out there that we could grasp. The one that kept coming up was developing a marketplace concept.”

The NAFCD acknowledged the success of Surfaces and Coverings but identified a void: There was no intimate trade show offering the opportunity for a manufacturer that supports the distribution channel to meet one-on-one with wholesalers without any distractions from channels to which they may not be selling.

“Surfaces is successful,” Freed said. “But the attendees are made up of retailers, distributors, installers, contractors, etc. A manufacturer attending Surfaces that wants to have meetings with distributors is faced with the need to weed out the retailer from the distributor with whom they may want to sit in a private room.

“We are not looking to compete with Surfaces or Coverings. We want to complement those shows.” As an example, Freed noted that NAFCD’s selling position was that manufacturers could utilize the marketplace to bring their existing distributor partners up to speed on new products so they are ready to go at Surfaces. “It can make Surfaces an even more successful selling event for the distributor working the manufacturer’s booth.”

Manufacturers with whom FCNews spoke saw the value in the Marketplace. Sam Ruble, vice president of marketing for Monticello Floors, came to California with a game plan and executed it to perfection. “We need distributors around the country. I targeted about 35 that would be attending this meeting and sent out handwritten invitations to come see us.”

When the dust cleared, Ruble had met with 16 of those targets, many of which he considers solid prospects. “We are the alternative in residential product. We have solution-dyed nylon, polypropylene and polyester, and we have in-house extrusion. This makes us cost competitive.”

Other suppliers like Bullseye Flooring parlayed the Marketplace into their entrée into the market. The luxury vinyl tile supplier, founded by former Flexco executives Jeff Collum, president and CEO, and Kelli Jack, vice president, operations and marketing, is launching with about 70 SKUs and an aluminum oxide wearlayer. “Our woods are micro-beveled, register embossed for the most authentic looks,” Jack said. “On the tile side we have a range of slates, marbles, metallics, quarries and terrazzos.”

Collum earmarked the NAFCD Marketplace to launch Bullseye because “at Surfaces we see so many people. Here we see the people we need to see most at this point: high-level distributor executives.”

The show was also a hit for smaller companies like Precision Flooring Products, a manufacturer of solid wood, prefinished moldings. “It was successful for us in the first hour because of the high-level distributor executives we met with,” said Dave Wallace, owner. “We were looking to pick up a distributor and add products to our current network.”

Edge Flooring, a relatively new NAFCD member, was seeking to get to know more of the distribution leaders, according to Bill Cralley, CEO, “those we have and those we don’t.” Cralley was joined by Erik Christiansen, vice president of sales and marketing. “This is a great opportunity for networking but also a great chance to spend quality time with all our current distributors in an effective way,” he said. “We can meet face-to-face with so many of them here as opposed to traveling around the country. At the same we can also fill a few holes.” Edge currently has about 80% of the country covered, Christiensen said.

For a company like Centiva, which specializes on the commercial side of the business and utilizes only a handful of distributors, the Marketplace served as a way to gain exposure for its high-style luxury vinyl tile. “This is not one of those shows where we came with yardsticks,” said John Bonney, sales director. “We would like to expose our products to some new distributors. We have a very strong brand; the more exposure we get the better it will be.”

What the distributors said

On the other side of the ledger, NAFCD distributor members were also voicing positive opinions. “This is a great idea,” said Rolston Johnson, president of Butler Johnson in San Jose, Calif., and something of a West Coast flooring wholesaler legend. “We are talking to existing suppliers and well as potential new suppliers. The most important aspect is seeing key people all at the same time.”

Johnson, NAFCD president in 1986/87, noted this was not the organization’s first attempt at this type of event. “In the 1970s and ’80s we had a similar show and it evolved to things like accessories. But the association eventually had trouble getting space in the hotels so it was discontinued in the early ’90s.

Peter Barretto, president and CEO of Torly’s in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, heralded the intimacy of the Marketplace as compared to Surfaces. “It’s a more casual atmosphere; I can talk to people here.”

Barretto came to the Marketplace with the notion of spectating but got more than he bargained for. “I actually had four serious conversations with wood, bamboo and ceramic people we can potentially do business with. The intimacy allowed me to spend more time with them. Here I am supplier focused; at Surfaces I am customer focused.”

Bruce Zwicker , president and CEO of J.J. Haines, the second largest distributor in the land, said he saw some potential new products from both existing and new suppliers, primarily support-type and service-type like IT and sundries. “Some of that gets lost at Surfaces. Here there is sufficient time to stop at every booth. It’s more conducive to browsing. I think the NAFCD is onto something.”

L.A. Train, president of Swiff-Train in Chorpus Christi, Tex., said he picked up at least one new item as a result of the smaller venue. “We have scheduled follow-up meetings in Texas with a number of suppliers. We were able to make this happen because I was able to visit every booth and learn about some new products we otherwise wouldn’t have seen.”

Al Hurt, president of Ohio Valley Flooring in Cincinnati, was not looking to take on new products, but said the Marketplace was a good forum for getting people together. “Anytime you can see product and meet people it’s a good thing. The NAFCD meeting and Marketplace offers us the camaraderie of being around our contemporaries.”

Odds and ends

According to Steve Johnson, outgoing NAFCD president and vice president of Butler Johnson, there is already a waiting list for next year’s Marketplace. “The space to which we’ve already committed in Austin, Tex., will allow us to double the number of exhibitors. We are budgeting for 80 exhibitors, but the board has not decided if it wants to go up to 140 because, above all, it wants to protect the intimacy of the show.”

Johnson noted that comments were running 95% positive, 5% negative. “For example, Monticello said it already had 16 successful meetings. And Shaw said it thinks the Marketplace adds tremendous value to NAFCD. It sees this as a good return on its investment and will continue to support NAFCD. And many other suppliers told me they really like that they don’t have to get on a plane and go to 30 cities to see their distributors.”

Probably the best indication of the show’s success came on the first day. “The show was still operating when they dimmed the lights at 7 p.m.,” Freed said. “There were still people networking in the aisles and having discussions in booths.”

He noted that this year the NAFCD identified as a goal to significantly increase manufacturer membership. “We achieved this through the Marketplace. The focus going forward is to grow distributor membership. We have targeted 30 to 50 potential members. We are using the Marketplace as a tool to show the value of membership. This is a place for them to come in and do some product development with people who are totally committed to this channel.”