Open House 2004
Summit Pet Product Distributors held its 2004 Open House Trade Show on Saturday, September 25, and Sunday, September 26. This year's event drew the largest crowd in our history. The show took place at our 130,000 sq. ft. facility in Greensboro, NC. At this year's show, we also unveiled plans to build a new 45,000 sq. ft. warehouse facility, which will be adjacent to the current Greensboro warehouse.
During the show, attendees were encouraged to walk through our building to view the ever-growing list of catalog items that we carry. In addition, we provided a fully catered lunch to those in attendance--including steak and Ben & Jerry's ice cream! We also hired on-site caricature artists who provided free renderings to customers on both days.
On Saturday evening, we held an appreciation dinner in the Imperial Ballroom at the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel. This event was designed to thank the many customers, manufacturers and employees who have been instrumental in our success. Also at the banquet, Summit Sales Manager and Master of Ceremonies Mike Copeland presented Best Booth awards to two manufacturers: Best Multi-Booth went to the Pet Services Plus, Inc.--with representatives Bruce Flantzer and Morris Brown accepting; while Debra Phillips accepted Best Single Booth on behalf of Marshall Pet Products, Inc.
The evening was capped off by a hilarious performance from renowned comedian and television star Gabe Kaplan of Welcome Back, Kotter fame. After the festivities, customers were invited to stay and play casino gaming in which they could win a variety of prizes. Texas Hold' Em poker was introduced this year as well as Micro Reality Racing, in which attendees raced miniature cars around a twenty-foot oval track.
We were very encouraged by the success of the event and are currently making plans for our 2005 Customer Appreciation Trade Show in Atlanta next spring. We feel our trade shows are the best in the industry, and will continue to help solidify the relationship with our independent pet stores.
|