The first Essential Trade Show post-lockdown restrictions took place at Nasrec Expo Centre on 18 September with over 146 supplier stands and a large percentage of its 590 store members visiting the event.
The halls were teeming with activity at the Sunday Essential Trade show, with members encouraged to visit all the supplier stands through an innovative initiative. In the visitor’s welcome packs members were given an exhibition layout and suppliers placed a sticker on the stand once the member had seen their offering. The completed layouts were then placed in a box for a lucky draw to win a hamper of amazing products to the value of an estimated R40 000. The draw took place during the member lunch.
A second initiative, this one to encourage retailers to actively purchase products at the show, was also introduced. Order receipts were placed in a box from which a winner was drawn during the member lunch. The lucky winner won a hamper with an approximate value of R25 000.
At the end of a busy day of trading and networking, members attended a member luncheon at which lucky draw prizes were awarded, and long-standing Essential Hardware members were recognised.
ESSENTIAL SUPPLIER BREAKFAST
The Essential Hardware Supplier Breakfast, held the following morning, was the culmination of a truly successful trade show. The supplier breakfast afforded Norman Jackson the opportunity to share some key group info with suppliers, thank them for their support, hand out the Supplier of the Year awards by category and close off the festivities.
The Master of Ceremonies, Boki Ntsime, a talented singer who was one of the finalists in the 2010 season of Idols South Africa, introduced Norman Jackson who started the event with a video highlighting some of Essential’s milestones.
To see more photos of the awards, click here
