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It has been a whirlwind between Primetime by Nationwide Marketing Group and Vegas Market; and those are just the two we chose to attend.
Simultaneous to Vegas Market, several buying group shows were also held and with the combination of the pandemic slowing down foot traffic and the uptick in trends of consumers buying more and more online without ever test driving furniture and appliances in store, it made us question: are market shows becoming a thing of the past? In this episode, we recap our travels, discuss takeaways from Vegas Market, assess how the rise in the Delta varient may have played a role in attendance and, best of all, discuss our exclusive consumer research from over 2000 participants and how you can get the information.
Full Transcription:
Mark Kinsley:
I get back from nationwide primetime, and I had a day at home before I was heading out to Las Vegas market. So let me set the stage for you. I get home from Nashville, I walk in the door, I dropped my suitcase, my wife gives me a hug. And she says, You smell like a smokestack. Now she knows that you know about my past. And I’m like, I was not smoking I promise. But the Uber driver who picked me up from the airport, smoked in his car. And that’s how I ended my trip home from Nashville. It’s not how you want to end a trip, typically. But that’s just the beginning of the story, I’m going to tell you the rest of the story, after we tell you a little bit about how you can get the research that everybody keeps texting us about.
Mark Quinn:
So if you text us at 843 Marcos two, we’re going to be able to send you the research or here’s the easy way to get it. We partnered with nationwide marketing group 2000 mattress buyers who purchase in the past 12 months. And we got some rich data we’ve already talked about a little bit on the show but the entire deck is yours. It’s waiting on you right now patiently waiting at fam dot news. All you do is go to fam dot news, f a m dot n ew s and at the very top, there’s a link up there that says 2021 mattress buyers research, click the join the fam and gain free access.
So this is what we partnered up with nationwide on this is what we presented at primetime. And this is what is going to give you insights to help you shape your business going into 2021 the back half and beyond Is that fair one, it is fair and it’s really great that you know when we kind of started talking to nationwide about this initially, they have a marketing research proficiency inside of that business. So they were on board right away it was just a matter of what do we want to learn. And so we worked on it together and Jeff Rose was on stage with us and we had a great time presenting it but tons of people Kinsley want the data and I don’t blame him there’s a lot of good information in there. So stay tuned guys to because we’re also going to be doing some live shows and things where we actually analyze the data so anyway, thanks so nationwide for charging into that and helping their members understand their business and be informed differently so they’re making better decisions about their strategy and their business, and if you are a data hound like us, you get to get with door counts because this is like it’s almost like planting a website on top of your business you know with a website you can see heat mapping and conversion rates and then somebody add it to their cart well that I mean this is like door cats and if you go to door counts calm right now you can see the completely redesigned user interface and it’s a 123 here’s how easy it is. With a click of a button your sales people connect to customers as they walk through the door. Second click is going to record what happened sale, no sale potential sale. And a third click gives you key performance metrics. by the minute from anywhere on any device. All of your stores. Start today at door counts calm.
Mark Kinsley:
We love our friends at door counts love them and when I started off with this travel story, right so I get home from Nashville. We’ve been traveling you’ve been traveling and this is this is this is not how you want to end your trip to Nashville. And the second part of this is not how you want to begin your trip to Las Vegas market. But one thing I did have in my bag was this handy dandy. From colonial promotions calm this handy dandy off shoe tote bag now yes it’s a golf shoe tote bag and you can find it at Colonial promotions calm. It is black nylon. It has a U shaped zipper closure, and it’s perfect for carrying your golf shoes while traveling. I just carry my running shoes in it because when you run and you pound the pavement, you don’t want your crappy shoes going back with your nice clothes. So I seal it up, and it’s perfect to travel with.
Mark Quinn
That’s beautiful. And if you want to put like food in here, you can put food in here. Right? It’s not just Yes, it can be for anything can be for hats, it could be for a ball of yarn. If you’re doing some knitting, it could do that. Right?
Mark Kinsley:
Your needles, you put the needles in there, they’re gonna be a lot safer from poking through. If you’re doing some knitting,
Mark Quinn
How about some extension cord carrying cases food? You could put your snacks in here. You said snacks twice. Are you hungry? I kind of feel like I am. Yeah. Well, that’s good. I draw with I this is this is this is my my thing right here. So I have always watched people in airports and they’ve got their own bottle. And my tradition is I get through security and then I go into a store and I buy a bottle of water and then I buy like a Clif Bar or something in case I get hungry on the plane or were delayed. Well, I always see people carrying around the bottles and I just didn’t have one and then you know the guys at Colonial since us these very cool branded this Marcus By the way, you can put your own brand you don’t have to have ours on there. And so anyway, it fits in my briefcase perfectly and I carry with me and I just go to a waterfront, you know they have the filtered things now you can just stick it right in there. It fills it up. And I love it. It’s awesome. I’d have to pay $4 for a bottle of water. I just carry my nifty travel. thermos gives you cold for up to 10 hours keeps the hot for 10. And this is all from colonial promotions calm. We heard from Wes that thank you for mentioning us because many of you have already reached out to Wes and Tim and the team at Colonial. These are project managers, sales consultants, they have the unique ability, listen to this to kit and manage high volume time definite product distribution. We’re showing you a lot of what they’ve sourced because it’s the good quality stuff. But head over to Colonial promotions calm and you can see the products of the day from us that does Marcos and the fam and we were talking about these travel items.
Mark Kinsley:
So I have something for you. Are you ready? And then we can get into the show gave me the goalpost. I had to pause now I also because I’m so excited. You ready? So this is about to kick the football.
Mark Quinn:
Yeah, yeah, this is a very exciting thing. And you have to pick the movie. Are you ready? Let’s see. You’re younger than me by a good bet. So maybe you won’t but you ready? It’s I’m picking out a thermos for you. Not an ordinary thermos. We’ll do extra best thermos, the money can buy with a lid and the cover in something built right in. Name that movie. Kinsley.
Mark Kinsley:
I cannot name that movie. Yeah, Adrianne is our producer. She’s on the show. Adrianne, do you know? No, nothing. So there are people in the audience like raising you stop singing that there are people in the audience raising their hand. And I’m doing this like I’m milking a cow. Because when Steve Martin sings this in the jerk, he’s in a bathtub and he’s squeezing water through his hands. And it’s, you know, like a little water fountain at the same time. So anyway, it’s the best thermos song I’ve ever heard. So I feel like it was phenomenal thermos, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better thermos. Thank you. And we appreciate you for that today. coin. We want to recognize you for that. Thank you. That’s all free.
Mark Quinn: So what part of that part of the free Belfry anyway, so like going on Kinsley Vegas market? I was busy as hell every time I walked by, you had like people in your showroom?
Mark Kinsley:
Yeah, I had somebody talking to my sleeve in the Englander space for at least two days in a row. Every time I turned around, we had our sales guys doing FaceTime tours, with the product for people that didn’t come to market. We were slammed, I’m sitting here going, I have very low expectations for what traffic is going to be at Las Vegas market. And yeah, traffic was low. But you know, when we roll out 14 new models, I think there was interest there and there was attention to people came in to see it. And you know, my expectations were also very low Quinn because of how the trip started. So I’ve got to finish the second part of that story. So I came home from Nashville smelling like a smokestack. I’m home for a day, do a load of laundry, getting packed up and heading out to Vegas. So I had scheduled my Uber at that point. And so I’m packed up, I got my jacket on, I got my backpack, I got my suitcase, and I looked down at the Uber that had accepted my ride. And I thought, nah, surely not. Surely not. Surely not. And then I look closer and I’m like, It’s him. It’s the same chimney that just dropped me off a day and a half ago. He’s the one that accepted my ride. So here I am. My wife says I smell like smoke. As soon as I get back from my trip to Nashville, and this is the guy that chooses to pick me up. I’m like, I’m gonna start the trip smelling like smoke again. So I thought, Okay, you know what big deal. Vegas casinos are smoky anyway even though you have a mask on because of their mask, mask mandate Vegas we’re going out. So I’m like, okay, whatever just move on here we go start the trip, I go out my front door with my suitcase in hand, my backpack slung over my shoulder. And I’m walking to the back of his name’s Tony, by the way, walking into the back of Tony’s SUV. And it’s as if a bolt of lightning hit my body because I fell straight to the ground. And what had happened was at&t in my driveway has this green plastic lid, junction box of sorts, and the lid was not on there properly. And I fell into the hole. And so I fall all the way into the hole, my my foot finally finds the ground, my body slams against the rocks of my driveway, and I rip off the last remaining handle on my suitcase. There was only one left already seen the guys doing the javelin throw with it or the hammer throw and ripped off the other. So I rip off the last handle. I’m laying on the ground. I’m covered in mud. And Tony, the smokey driver comes over. And he goes, man, are you okay? I’ve never seen anything like that happen. I just thought that you got pulled into the earth by a poltergeist just laying there on the ground, like laughing to myself, because I was like this. This is okay. It’s all good. He was in the driver’s seat.
Mark Quinn:
Was he watching you from the rearview mirror?
Mark Kinsley:
He was okay. Yeah, he saw the whole thing and he got out to make sure I was okay. And so I went inside, you know, I washed off the mud off my jeans and get scrubbed up and gotten the car and it still smelled like smoke from a couple days before and off to Vegas. I went and I thought man, this is this is a kind of an unlucky start. So I’m probably not going to pull up my wallet in Vegas and do much gambling, man. Probably don’t want to do that.
Mark Quinn:
Definitely. Well, what did you think? So you had you had great traffic. So you survived the the pitfall and the Poltergeist. So thank God. You know, he didn’t he didn’t have to survive the pitfall in the poll. For the record. If it was necessary, I would get the whole tennis ball and find that little blonde girl I think she might be dead. But I go into the light for you, man, I come looking. I would.
Mark Kinsley:
That’s a reference to Poltergeist Correct. Correct. For our listeners that don’t know Steve Martin movies or Horace Mann to come in.
Anyway, I go in the library, that’s where you have to go to fight the Poltergeist. But so Kinsley, to Vegas market man, there was a lot of mixed reaction. I think the the primary reaction though, was that traffic was incredibly light. I think a lot of people were probably expecting that. But here’s the thing. It was incredibly light, because we just came out of a hugely successful well attended nationwide event with I think over 3000 people is what they ended up having. And then brandsource basically shoots the highest scientific market and says, Don’t care about you, we we’ve got this. And they planned or maybe it was the other way around in Vegas market put their dates on top of brands or so I’m not sure how that worked out. But anyway, brandsource was the exact same time there shows the exact same time as Vegas market. And so I mean, you’re not going to get traffic at both, that’s going to be a challenge. But anyway, so that’s the that’s the story. So it was light, but you know, probably for some good reason. But the question I think for the Vegas market people is knowing that that’s the case. And there’s everyone clamoring now for the travel dollar in people’s attention in person. And people aren’t going to go to a bunch of stuff, maybe, you know, we did because we had to but you know, retailers and whatnot, they’re probably with the COVID stuff that’s going on. less exposure is better. So they’re going to be way more picky on where they booked tickets and where they go. Right. So the question is, does Las Vegas market have a compelling enough story and reason to come to get their traffic back this next fall to what it would normally be? What are your thoughts there?
Mark Quinn
A lot of people I see trying to be predictive here are saying the cadence is going to return for the most part in 2022. Because we are in a touch it feel it. If I’m going to invest big dollars make major line changes. I want to see the product in person type of industry, and I think that’s going to be true. Now. Do I think it’s going to be true? in its strictest terms, meaning Are we going to go back to markets and that’s it. And we’re not going to have some sort of hybrid approach that involves you know, something like, you know, Juniper commerce, which is IMC’s wholesale buying platform?
No, I think it’s going to change. I think it’s going to evolve. And in let me let me give you a little snippet of reality here that we can all think about. You just described it when you described it in that a lot of buyers chose to go to their buying group event. Like you said, brandsource was during market nationwide primetime was previous to market. And I know I talked to a lot of our dealers who decided I’m going to go to a nationwide primetime, and I’m not going to go to market they chose one or the other. Now, that’s not the snippet I want to give you. Here’s the lay of the land. I want us to think about SSB Serta Simmons bedding pulled out of their Las Vegas market lease and 2020 and they went to virtual shows and they’ve not shown signs of renewing a lease at Las Vegas market. But meanwhile, when you go to the buying group shows who’s there ever SSP Yeah. SSP launched their 15x Arctic product is supposed to be 15 times cooler. They they reached out to us about it and told us about it. Sure enough. There it was on display. That’s where that product launch was happening. It was not happening at Las Vegas market because they’re not there. You know, I heard that spring air wasn’t there King coil didn’t open up. Ashley didn’t open up the biggest exhibitor at Las Vegas market on the 16th floor, the see building, a building, CRA, one of the others, they have the Express elevator, that’s all I know. So when you look at the lay of the land, does it just evolve? You know, back in the day, you had Dallas market, you had San Francisco was a mattress market at one point. Now it’s Vegas in the winter. That’s the big market? Do we need the summer market? People are starting to question that. So I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s a one approach fits all. But it does show the shift in the landscape. And I think the coastline for markets and mattress introductions has been altered. Now what is it going to look like? Whenever the storm passes, and 2022 does roll around? Well, heck, everybody thought when 2021 rolled around, things were going to be more stable and they haven’t proven to be. So I just think those dynamics are worth looking at. Because if I’m putting my money in the pot, if I’m spending my cash to merchandise, my retail floor, I gotta get my hands on something. And I don’t think when it comes to big items, when it comes to the aesthetic in the field, how does it sit? How does it lay? If I’m investing my money, thinking I can I can sell this? I can get my hands on this stuff.
Mark Quinn:
Yeah, you know, you’re right. We’re in a touchy feely market. Totally agree with that. And I think with furniture and the matches category, I think it helps I think that the full market, Kinsley, for ever, it’s that’s where people launch big programs. You know, and I think that there’s a lot of reason to believe that, you know, that that’s where that’s going to happen, not for SSB, right. You know, I had a conversation with Karen and Dorothy and Renee at the Vegas market center while I was there, for some fan business, right, and they’re delightful people, I mean, just I really enjoyed my time with them. And they know that there’s an opportunity for them to evolve and do some cool stuff. And they’ve been talking about some really cool stuff and Juniper to your point that exchange b2b exchange platform, so there’s tons there. So they’re on it, and they’re thinking about it differently. And they are fully aware of the buying groups in the shows. And, you know, I think the one thing for a manufacturer is that when you get to a buying show, retailers come with a checkbook, you know, there’s a day where there’s discounted product and you know, the buyer Palooza at the nationwide event and big discounts and incentive to purchase things. And I think manufacturers like that. I also think that the way they entertain people, they had Little Big Town and they made it fun. And there was some of that I also think the way that nationwide stays in touch with their members throughout the years. So it’s not a an event that they’re going to, they understand that they need to be adding value to the retailer, obviously they’re member but also the manufacturer, and they figure out ways to help the manufacturer to market inside of that membership and that structure. And so I think they’re doing some things differently. And I think that, you know, Vegas market is who they are. I mean, they’re great buildings and a great place to be and they’ve done a terrific job for a lot of time but things are changing and you know, they’re gonna people are gonna start forced ranking, where they’re going to go and where they’re going to spend time. And when you start doing return things are changing.
Mark Kinsley:
Yeah. I mean, look, look at the research we just did 64% of people are likely to not try their mattress next time they buy. This is from reach recent mattress buyers. So we know things are changing. And so with that shift, does the approach to merchandising, to buying does that change? Well, I tell you this, based on a lot of conversations on market, I hear from a lot of people out there retailers, big retailers that are going for an Endless Aisle approach. And they want to have different manufacturers drop shipping products, they want to potentially warehouse some of those products and ship them out. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be on their floor, but they want to be able to sell you online. And that that was from multiple categories, not just the mattress category that is happening. So that’s your mentality. I mean, I, I saw it, you know, some of these buyers were coming in and not even really caring about the product that much. So they weren’t trying it as well. They weren’t touching and feeling it. They just want to be able to compete in that space, you know, and get their share and to see it all in one location and to be able to because you know, the great thing about market Vegas market is you have so much assortment, like there’s a lot to pick from, right. So the buying groups kind of vet that and they allow people in and you have a limited access to, you know, to certain manufacturers, you have to be, you know, approved by nationwide guys. So, Vegas certainly offers you more selection. But, you know, gosh, it’s a Kinsey go back to the sort of Simmons betting thing, right? And so if you’re TempurPedic TSI, then you’re loving that decision, because they’re not going to be at Vegas market in February. And but I kind of get why SSB did it, you know, for their own reasons. But, man, that just seems like when TempurPedic has so much momentum for them not to be at Vegas market? I don’t know. I mean, I’m sure they’ve run the numbers in pro Condit and had some very healthy debates. But I think it’s a little risky for them, actually.
Mark Quinn: Well, I talked to a lot of smart people. And I asked them what their predictions were? No, did anybody know that we would get a big boost in the mattress business based off COVID. And nobody said that they thought that would be the case. So I think we you know, there are a lot of smart people in the industry dealing with a lot of you know, changing circumstances. And I think if we tried to make predictions right now, we would look at look back in 2022. And maybe kind of chuckle a little bit. So you know, I think in our industry, a lot of times, I keep hearing people talk about like how things are going to shake out what it’s going to look like when the dust settles. And that’s the old school way of thinking about it. The dust will not settle. I think those days are gone. Those days are gone when you had a heavy bulky item that you could either deliver in your box truck or put on the top of a station wagon, regionally produced. So the days are gone, where the dust is gonna settle and the new normal is gonna merge. I think it’s a constantly shape shifting industry that we’re in and keeping up is going to be imperative and I think one of the ways we want to help you keep up is with this new research approach to the fam. You know, we talked about it on the last show, but we got a lot more data and if you go to fam dot news, right there at the top, you click on it, you go over become a member of the fam and you get instant access right now you can get it. All you got to do is just fill out a little thing, boom, you get instant access to the entire deck that we presented. Yeah, the data 64% not likely to try next time. When we dig into that. You know how many people that bought online? are happy with that purchase? effectively? What part of Mark Quinn’s body is his tattoo located that’s in the research deck too, because research should not be boring. And don’t read it for him quit by taking off your clothes. Right?
Mark Kinsley:
Well, if anyone’s been listening to this show, they know the answer to that. It’s like picking up the thermostat. People know they know where that song came from his face. You know. And before we bounce out of here, I want to say it was really fun getting with Mike Magnuson and Jeff Cassidy, guys from Goodbed, dead calm and Mike had a podcast, we had a family dinner there. And of course, very glad we got Dave Perry to sit down with us and it was awesome to get to spend some time with him and hear about his son and the recovery of his son and how that’s continuing to progress. So thanks for making time with this Dave and just a lot of really good stuff, you know, happening there. So it was it was a lot of fun and always great to see people and connect with them. And that was a really cool thing. And by the way, as we go to just get my Feels like after the emotional side of seeing people we hadn’t seen in a long time. We know there’s a lot of people out there dealing with some things. I mean, you got Afghanistan and you know, military and some people have family over there. And then everything with the the storm, and everyone in New Orleans and Mississippi. And so we know you’re struggling with all that Kinsley and I have lived through some of that natural disaster. So just to note that some prayers with you guys, stay strong, your fans behind Yep. And in your corner.
Mark Quinn:
Yeah, and, you know, there, we want to acknowledge also, I think it’s people went to these shows, and some of them came back with COVID. And it’s really sad. And, and we’re cheering for you. And we want you to be healthy, we want you to be well. And so there’s a lot going on in the world. And, and it’s just things have changed. We all know they’ve changed and we don’t necessarily want them. We don’t necessarily want the change that’s happened. But look, we got to stick together. Let’s cheer each other on. You know, I really, let’s try to turn our thoughts into actions. That’s something that’s been on my heart a lot lately. You know, if I think about a friend, I’m want to be intentional about telling them I’m thinking about them. Like I took a picture of this box, and it was the same box but at different messages on different sides. And on the top it said Big Joe, these are like beanbags or something that my wife got for her classroom. On the top it said Big Joe, and on the bottom it says absurdly Awesome. Well, my roommate in college, his name is Big Joe. So sending him the picture of like, these are two true statements.
Mark Kinsley:
Big Joe is absurdly awesome. But try to turn your thoughts into actions. You know, if somebody is on your mind. I think more room for for good quality, emotion. And connection is a good thing right now, because we need each other. We did you Quinn, I need you, Adrianne, I love you guys. I need you guys to love back to you both. You know, the as you and I talked about, like, it’s kind of weird. Like we’re always trying to figure out how to feel about some of this stuff that’s going on. And so if you’re listening to this, I love the shirts, I keep saying it’s okay to not be okay. And I think that one of the books I was telling you about a book, Kinsley that I was reading in Adrian green lights by Matthew McConaughey. And I love this one part where he is on this path of enlightenment, and there’s a lot going on in his life. And so he wants to go and he wants to talk to this Sham shaman and get it all out and say I’m lost. I need help. Where’s my path? So after Matthew said after like a half hour of baring his soul, maybe a longer a couple hours, probably a couple hours of burying his soul. The High Priests kind of sat there and he listened. And he says, You know what? Me too. meaning you’re not alone, right? After three hours of, of telling him all the things that were going on and negative and how he’s struggling. And so he’s like, that was like the best possible thing he could have said, is just to acknowledge it. Someone else’s there. So anyway, go ahead. Kinsey, I can see you getting ready to react to that.
Mark Quinn:
I just made me think of an article I read with another University of Texas. Student around the same time, oh, and Wilson. And of course, oh, and Wilson was roommates with Wes Anderson. I was reading an article about Owen Wilson this morning. And it was just a simple interview with this guy at Esquire magazine, and they went to breakfast in Santa Monica. And he kind of the writer was nervous, and he wasn’t going to take off and you know, oh, and Wilson, they got to talk and they spent a couple hours together and he said you’re nervous. You’re really nervous. And he said, but don’t give up before the miracle happens.
Mark Kinsley:
I just love it. Don’t give up before the miracle Hang in there. It’s here it’s it’s there. You gotta hang in there. Don’t give up before the miracle happens and a miracle can happen for you all you have to do is subscribe it like that transition. Subscribe to the desmog us podcast wherever you listen to podcasts go to the fam it is matters podcast haven’t just look at the header up top. We’ve got Mike adapt. We’ve got Matt man Andrew Slusher. We’ve got the fan stories and of course this Marcos What did I miss? Just bt Hell yeah. Brett Thornton bringing it every day love his stuff. So go check that out and most importantly, share it with a friend. Listen to the show. If you Listen to an episode that you connect with or something that said, or you want someone else to try to figure out the thermos song, please forward this episode to your friends and family. We want you to be in the know. Kinsley How you feeling, baby?
Mark Quinn:
I feel a lot better now. Man. You could bounce on it. What is the hot it’s like peanut butter jelly. Peanut butter chocolate. It’s so tight. There’s a way that you could topple a hybrid on my wrist. That’s a calculator. Watch
