NACS Show highlighted convenience retail industry’s resilience
The expo featured a record number of new exhibitors; big industry initiatives took center stage in education and general sessions.
The live and in-person 2021 NACS Show delivered four days of learnings, insights, networking and exploring what’s new and exciting for the convenience and fuel retailing industry. This year’s event took place October 5-8 at McCormick Place in Chicago and attracted 17,273 attendees, including 5,039 buyers.
“This year—perhaps more than ever—our industry needed the NACS Show,” said 2021-22 NACS Chairman Jared Scheeler, CEO of Dickinson, North Dakota-based The Hub Convenience Stores Inc. “Convenience retailers and their supplier partners were able to meet face-to-face at the Show and reinvigorate the relationships and drive that keep our industry innovating and delivering excitement to our brands, our customers and our communities,” he said.
“733 days! That’s how long it’s been since we were last in person at the 2019 NACS Show,” said NACS 2020-21 Chairman Kevin Smartt, president and CEO of TXB Stores, based in Austin, Texas. “A lot has changed over the past two years, but one thing hasn’t: our resilience. No matter what was thrown our way we adapted, we pivoted, and we said, ‘We got this.’”
“It was a great event, with strong traffic, great energy and a lot of interaction with buyers. We can’t wait until next year’s NACS Show in Las Vegas,” said NACS 2021-22 Supplier Board Chairman Brent Cotten, senior director of customer and industry affairs at The Hershey Company.
Expo features a record number of new exhibitors
The NACS Show expo featured 1,235 exhibitors from start-ups to big brands, including a record-breaking 388 new exhibitors offering retailers a sneak peek at the new products available for convenience stores.
In addition, the Cool New Products Preview Room allowed attendees to quickly preview 277 of the latest products and services available to the convenience store industry.
As the convenience retailing industry continues to thrive in today’s constantly evolving retail environment, the NACS Show’s 40-plus education sessions, designed by retailers for retailers, helped attendees solve strategic challenges around core business functions relating to foodservice, technology, consumer insights, category management, fuels and human resources/labor.
The October 6 general session featured a panel discussion with NACS President and CEO Henry Armour and three retailers—Rachel Krupa of The Goods Mart in New York City, Lonnie McQuirter of 36 Lyn in downtown Minneapolis, and Don Rhoads of The Convenience Group in Washington state—who epitomize what it meant to be essential and resilient during a tumultuous 2020, and how they’ve forged ahead.
On October 7, Armour was joined on stage by Scheeler and Smartt to talk about the future of convenience in three areas: last-mile solutions, the future of energy and age verification.
*PetrolPlaza will publish various video reports about the NACS Show in the following days.
