Convention 2020: AVB’s Merchandising Team Rises to the Occasion

Chad Evans: Making sure members are “getting their fair share.”

By Andy Kriege, YSN

Finding profitable merchandising solutions during a pandemic — or any inventory at all, for that matter — certainly has its challenges, but AVB’s Merchandising Vice President Chad Evans and his team have met those hurdles head on.

“We have spent the last several months working with vendors and suppliers to provide cost savings where we can, and support to make sure that the independent dealer is getting their fair share of product,” he told YSN in advance of his Convention keynote on Monday.

Click here for a replay of Chad’s Merchandising Update.

Among the fruits of those labors are exciting offerings from a host of new partners including Broan, a leader in residential ventilation, and kitchen, laundry and floor care manufacturer Miele USA, which Evans described as “one of the premier names in the luxury appliance space.”

“We also are excited about a new store display/vignette program from Performance Displays,” he continued. “We took what we had done at the Summit in March and refined it and made some very strong offerings to help dealers merchandise their stores.” At the show, the new BrandSource vendor is offering in-store display solutions and financing options that can help members update their showrooms at an affordable price, Evans said.

Meanwhile, the rapidly growing home furnishings category continues to be a focus for many BrandSource dealers as well. Accordingly, “We also have several new furniture and mattress vendors” — including Porter Design Furniture and Kalora Rugs — “so there is something for everyone,” the merchandising head said.

Seth Weisblatt, Director of Merchandising/Home Furnishings, further expounded on the challenges and opportunities for furniture dealers attending the 2020 Virtual Convention.

“Furniture manufacturers are experiencing tremendous demand with supply chain difficulties,” Weisblatt noted. “We have worked to provide resources for retailers to find product that might be available immediately, and are excited about the Stamepde deals and the overall show programs.”

“Our manufacturers are committed to BrandSource members,” he added, “and ready to take orders and open new accounts.”

Going forward, Evans and his team will continue finding the best profit opportunities in today’s retail environment, and will remain busy working with each BrandSource region to bring members up to date on inventory availability, ongoing and upcoming promotions, and new vendor offerings.

“We have been focused on communicating to dealers through video calls, webinars and emails what is going on in the industries that we cover and helping them to navigate the difficult inventory situation,” he said.

For all things Convention related, visit the 2020 Convention section of YSN.

BrandSource, a unit of YSN publisher AVB Inc., is a nationwide buying group for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.

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