RETAILOBSERVER.COM JULY 2017
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B U Y I N G G R O U P N E W S
SPRING 2017 — A BUSY TIME
FOR BRANDSOURCE EDUCATION
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS UNIVERSITY:
THE FUTURE OF INDEPENDENT DEALERS
The future of independent retail was on hand during the
Young Professionals University (YPU) event sponsored by LG,
GE, Serta, and Electrolux this past May 17th-19th in Dallas, TX.
The next generation independent dealers & vendors were
invited to the three-day tutorial as a means to educate them
about the various nuances of the electronic, appliance, and
furniture industry.
In order to do this, BrandSource enlisted the aid of its
"power dealers", the most seasoned and successful dealers
in the company's membership. During a panel discussion
made up of both young professionals and power dealers,
members of both groups were free to ask questions about
their various businesses in an effort to gain insight on how to
launch their own successful forays into the independent
retail business.
The meetings were followed by a tour of the Star Power
facility in Dallas, which acts as a venue for several appliance
manufacturers to display their products. Besides the experience
and wisdom offered by the power dealers, the Young
Professionals event featured lectures from keynote speakers
such as Andrew Leonard from Google, whose discussion was
entitled "Google Trends and Winning Moments That Matter".
Meanwhile, Brian Wattier, AVB's general manager of digital
marketing, held a workshop on how to create an effective
marketing plan. The young professionals also met with financial
planner Bradley P. Wilson, an investment officer of Christensen
Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo who gave them
advice on the intricacies of financing their retail operation and
planning for retirement.
The Young Professionals event is just one example of
BrandSource's ingenuity in attempting to prepare its membership
for the future. By making such inroads to connect new members
with established ones, BrandSource demonstrates its own
unique commitment to its business through a wise investment in
the future.
MEETINGS IN ORANGE COUNTY REVEAL
NEW BRANDSOURCE VENDOR STRATEGY
BrandSource introduced a comprehensive new training
method for its key vendors this May during a three-day session
in Orange County, CA. In an intensive series of meetings
beginning on May 1, more than 35 vendors were invited to
individual tutorials on merchandising and marketing, as well as
a general session detailing the overall business approach of
BrandSource/AVB and its commitment to its membership.
The conference was organized so that each day a new
group of vendors would attend the various meetings, which
were broken up into 40-minute intervals. All told, the groups
spent a day-and-a-half each at the training conference. The
marketing meetings, which were hosted by Brian Wattier,
AVB's general manager of digital marketing, and Chief
Marketing Officer John White, introduced vendors to new
blogs, lifestyle posts, and other content designed to keep
them up-to-date on the latest marketing strategies. The
merchandising meetings were presided over by Chad Evans,
general manager of merchandising, Andy Kriege, general
manager of communications, and Jennifer Baldwin, director of
marketing and member communications. These meetings
