Chattanooga, TN — 11/7/16 CarpetsPlus COLORTILE® recently held its third annual Buying Committee Meeting in Chattanooga, TN, at the Holiday Inn Downtown, November 1-4, 2016. The committee acts as an advisory council working side by side with executive management to cast the vision and forge the path forward for the group into 2017.
Ten member stores were in attendance this year with twelve total representatives from those stores. Member Missy Montgomery, Montgomery’s CarpetsPlus in Venice, FL, was happy with the way things played out. “I feel the representation of this year’s committee was very diverse. We did a good job of representing everyone from the smallest of companies to the largest and I believe the decisions made will benefit all.”
Kevin Logue, co-COO and VP Marketing
During his opening remarks, Kevin Logue, co-COO and vice president marketing for CarpetsPlus COLORTILE, thanked the buying committee for their efforts to attend the meeting. He stressed the importance of what they were about to do and gave them instructions for their meeting.
“Thank you for making the trip to Chattanooga to preview and discuss our new product and merchandising strategies for 2017. These next few days will be busy but are very important for the success and profitability of our entire group,” said Logue. “We really value your input and opinions and so do your suppliers.”
Four main objectives were presented on Tuesday morning to begin the event. Key action items included roll and pallet stocking program strategies as well as product and merchandising plans for 2017.
As in years past, select suppliers presented their exciting, new introductions, answered questions and discussed plans for the future.
The group reviewing new products
The group reviewed new products and special buys as well as discussed 2017 strategies as the suppliers presented their products. Their last day was spent discussing and reviewing new 2017 proposed merchandising. They saw carpet and hard surface displays and provided excellent feedback for display improvements.
Speaking of the feedback, Ryan Dunn said, “These programs are for our members. It’s invaluable getting their input early in the process. We can use their ideas to help shape the upcoming merchandising.”
Member Stacey Pape, owner of SP Floors in Pittsburgh, gave her insight, “When you come here, you’re seeing things that are coming down the road. We got to see what’s new and what’s fresh as well as the top five sellers currently throughout the country and in our region.”
Pape also commented on her take-away from the event, “We talked about how to make our displays more efficient, more user-friendly for our salespeople. To me, that’s the take-home of this trip. When we look at bringing new things in, how much easier are the new things to use? How easy will it be for a salesperson to sell from? We spent a lot of time talking about that yesterday.”
Todd Ramsey and Cindy Maddy, 3 Kings CarpetsPlus, Ft. Wayne, IND, give input
Getting input in advance from the CarpetsPlus Buying Committee is highly beneficial in creating an impactful product strategy for both carpet and hard surface.
“I think this meeting is one of the most important for our group. We are helping determine the direction of some of the best programs we’ve ever done. Our group is getting some really good information to help us today and into the future and I’m glad to be a part of it,” said Bob Pireu, owner of Bob and Pete’s Flooring, Canton, OH.
Jon Logue, co-CEO of CarpetsPlus COLORTILE said, “We have a great group of members on our Buying Committee. The input and discussions were top level and will greatly influence our direction to move our Destination, COLORTILE and CarpetsPlus programs to the next level. Thanks again to all that participated and to our great marketing department for putting this meeting together as we use the input to head into our 20th year to continue to grow and support each other.”