2021 NASGW Expo Review
What’s The State Of
Two-Step Distribution Today?
The 2021 NASGW Expo & Annual Meeting, held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 27–29, represented one of the first large-scale events for the industry since SHOT Show 2020 — a span of 642 days.
Kenyon Gleason, NASGW president, sat down with Shooting Industry to share his impressions of the Expo, as well as the current state of the two-step distribution model and what’s next for the association.
Feedback From Attendees
The 2021 NASGW Expo attracted companies from across the industry, with 235 exhibiting manufacturers and dozens of wholesale distributors and manufacturer’s reps, along with members of the industry media in attendance. According to Gleason, NASGW received glowing feedback.
“Everybody came together, dealt with the minor restrictions we had with masking and came out on the other side with a lot of positive feedback and a great show experience,” he said. “I don’t know if we could have done it a whole lot better, under the circumstances.”
Gleason shared NASGW’s distributor members were pleased with how many exhibiting manufacturers attended the Expo in a post-COVID setting.
“Some people maybe were expecting a drop-off ahead of the show. But in the end, we had a full show floor except for a few that were truly last-minute cancellations,” he said. “Ultimately, of the 242 exhibitors we had signed up, 235 of them exhibited at the Expo.”
Spotlight On First-Time Exhibitors
There were 40 first-time exhibitors at this year’s Expo. In a first for the NASGW Expo, these first-time exhibitors were given an opportunity to present a 3-minute “elevator pitch” in front of a group of distributors to drum up business.
“The ‘Speed Presentations’ addition for first-time exhibitors was a phenomenal success,” Gleason noted. “These exhibitors told us after the fact they were getting all kinds of visitors to the booth the rest of the week afterward.”
According to Gleason, this concept came out of a summit with NASGW wholesaler members in August.
“We asked our members how we could make the show more enticing for first-time exhibitors, since many would struggle to get meetings in a packed week for our distributors — that was an idea the distributors came up with and we absolutely plan to do it again next time, it was a nice new add for us,” he said.
One exhibitor to take advantage of the “Speed Presentation” opportunity was FIENDOIL. Andrew Kasun, FIENDOIL sales and marketing director, recalled how it benefited his company’s presence at the Expo.
“Having signed up for the show late in the year, I learned quickly securing a meeting with buyers last-minute was nearly impossible — their schedules fill up within days of the show announcement,” he said. “This is why I really appreciated the opportunity to pitch FIENDOIL at the ‘speed dating event.’ I was able to give my 3-minute pitch to buyers I couldn’t book prior to the show and ended up getting enough of them interested in us to come by the booth and talk more about next steps. This event made coming to the show all worth the while, and the networks and friendships I made throughout the show made it all the better.”
First-time exhibitors were given a forum to present a 3-minute “elevator pitch” of their products
to distributors during the 2021 NASGW Expo. Andrew Kasun, sales and marketing director at FIENDOIL,
was one of the exhibitors who took advantage of this new offering. (Image provided by NASGW)
State Of Two-Step Distribution
Holding the Expo in the midst of widespread supply chain challenges gave industry members an opportunity to evaluate where improvements could be made to deliver more product to end users.
“There are some problems we need to overcome: We’re still facing challenges with all of the shipping, all of the workforce issues and logistics both here and abroad,” Gleason stated. “What I will say, though, on the flipside — our distributors have really adapted well. They have continued to find efficiencies and find ways to overcome the communication challenges that have been presented because they haven’t been able to be in person. They’ve done a terrific job.”
Gleason noted this period of uncertainty has put the value of relationships firmly into focus.
“It’s probably more important now than ever to have a strong relationship with your distributor because things are so challenging in the market. This would be echoed by pretty much anyone you talk to — whether it’s a manufacturer or distributor,” he said.
“The market is so unique and different right now, not just because we sell everything we make but it’s growing harder and harder to get the raw materials to actually make the products. So that, too, has thrown a monkey wrench into things.”
“It’s probably more important now than ever to have a strong relationship with your distributor because things are so challenging in the market.”
Kenyon Gleason, NASGW President
NASGW SCOPE Influence Growing
Launched at the 2018 NASGW Expo in Pittsburgh, NASGW’s SCOPE initiative has grown in its ability to provide real-time data of sales and inventory trends across the industry. According to Gleason, investment in SCOPE represents NASGW’s “number-one” priority.
“We firmly believe NASGW is in the perfect place to help this industry with data — to understand what’s moving in the distribution channel, what consumers are asking for out there and what we have available to provide to them. We’re 100% committed to its future and we plan to continue pushing forward as hard and as fast as we can to make it better for our members and the industry as a whole,” he said.
Attendees were able to attend an NASGW SCOPE Update event on the second day of the Expo, hosted by Easton Kuboushek, NASGW director of data programs and new team member Tom Hopper, NASGW senior data analyst.
What’s Next?
Gleason shared the NASGW is currently engaged with other industry organizations to confront the very public challenges industry businesses face in banking, financing and insurance.
“In meetings over the past few months and at Expo, there’s a large desire from our members to continue to come together and spitball ideas for how we as an industry can collectively fight those challenges,” he said. “It’s going to take cooperation, partnership and a lot of grit and determination from across the industry to work together and make it happen.”
As this initiative materializes, Shooting Industry will provide pertinent updates to readers. Meanwhile, plans for the next NASGW Expo & Annual Meeting are already in full swing: the 2022 event will be held Oct. 26–28 in Kansas City.
For more info: nasgwexpo.org, nasgwscope.org.
