GMDC SHOW SEES RECORD ATTENDANCE

Dan Alaimo

SAN DIEGO -- The annual General Merchandise Marketing Conference of the General Merchandise Distributors Council, Colorado Springs, Colo., held here this month, saw record attendance numbers, with a particularly strong increase among supplier executives, reported Bill Mansfield, vice president, general merchandise, Marsh Supermarkets, Indianapolis, and chairman of GMDC's board.

The number of retailer and wholesaler personnel at the meeting was up 4% from 219 last year to 227, while the number of supplier executives was up 21%, from 723 last year to 872. GMDC began paying for retailer and wholesaler attendees' travel expenses as of last year's GM conference, and saw a 45% increase in the number of buyers at that event. The growth was noteworthy because many other trade groups are struggling with the attendance at their events, GMDC officials said.

Quoting the movie "Field of Dreams," Mansfield said, "If you build it, they will come." He continued, "Last year, we built it from the retailer/wholesaler perspective. This year, the supplier community answered with an overwhelming, outstanding support of GMDC's GM conference."

While the personnel count was up, the number of wholesale and retail companies at the conference dropped by two, from 95 to 93, while the number of supply companies increased 16%, from 357 to 414. "We've got a balance of power on both sides of the table, which is going to drive more business for everyone in the organization," Mansfield said.

"This is the most productive show that we've ever had. The energy level is high," said David McConnell Jr., GMDC's president and chief executive officer. Much of the growth has come from smaller, entrepreneurial vendors, who are just what retailers and wholesalers want to network with at events like GMDC's. "These small and growth-oriented companies bring unique products, new items that are the lifeblood of the GM and HBC business, particularly for supermarkets," he said.

On the show floor, where buyers sit at tables and suppliers visit for tightly scheduled eight- and 16-minute meetings, the pace was frenetic, with breaks hard to come by.

Save Mart Supermarkets, Modesto, Calif., for example brought three people, and "we took nearly every single break we had and filled it," said Tony Pooler, director of GM/HBC. The conference was divided into two sessions, with two supplier groups, and there were more smaller companies in the second group, noted Steve Urgo, Save Mart's GM buyer merchandiser.

"We came here with one specific agenda, which was to review the pet category, and we've seen a lot of people and it has been very productive for that," he said.

"We have seen a lot of new things and got some new ideas. Representation has been good, and it has been a lot of fun," said George Satterwhite, director of nonfoods, Affiliated Foods, Amarillo, Texas. "I think it is probably the best show we have been to."

Al Jones, senior vice president, procurement and merchandising, Imperial Distributors, Auburn, Mass., said, "We have found that the GMDC show this year has been more productive than ever. The biggest issue will be to do the right follow-up to make sure that we take advantage of what we have seen." Because of GMDC's computerized CCCNet, the vendors were better prepared for the meetings, he said.

McConnell reported that as of shortly before the show, only 4% of the supplier participants said they had never logged into CCCNet to check on appointments and retailer/wholesaler agendas.

"We've made it a very high priority to make sure we have our people positioned to see the greatest number of participants from the vendor community," said Larry Ishii, general manager, GM/HBC, Unified Western Grocers, Commerce, Calif. "The GMDC format is critically important to us on the retailer and buyer side to efficiently and effectively run our business," he said.

Warner Home Video, Burbank, Calif., was among the companies new to GMDC, and Rodney Satterwhite, vice president, business development, was pleased to have 40 meetings with retailers and wholesalers scheduled in a short time. "This show has been extremely beneficial for us," he said.

Garry Briddon, the Atlanta-based general manager and vice president of business development for Eastman Kodak, Rochester, N.Y., is deeply involved in GMDC and is chairman-elect of the GM Advisory Board. "From Eastman Kodak's standpoint, seeing 56 of our customers in a day and a half is a tremendous return on the investment of our time and our energy."