13th Annual Natural Products Day, March 23, 2010, Washington, DC. Join your colleagues for a day of advocacy education, and celebration as you build the industry's base of support through personal meetings with members of Congress on Capital Hill. For more information, contact Tracy Taylor at ttaylor@npainfo.org.

NPA East successfully completed the fourth year of its co-marketing partnership with New Hope to help produce Expo East in Boston last September 23 through 26. Originally, New Hope approached NPA East because it wanted to stimulate "community" at the East Coast's largest natural products trade show. Over the last four years, NPA East has worked closely with New Hope to create show features and benefits relevant to independent retailers, and our efforts are gaining traction.

Retailer Workshop
First, we have set aside Wednesday as an exclusive Retailer Workshop, an all-day intensive focused on helping independent natural products retailers with every aspect of operating and marketing a successful natural products store. Experts spoke on operating each department in the store, from margins and budgets to marketing and merchandising. The Workshop had record attendance of 120 retailers who began with a keynote address, moved to breakout sessions, a networking lunch, afternoon in-depth sessions, and a closing panel discussion with audience participation.
The great thing about the Workshop is its intimate setting, where retailers can be face to face with experts from all fields, and can also network with their retailing peers all day long. Many of these contacts turn out to be invaluable, and help accelerate success when retailers return home to their stores.

Retail Resource Center
Another bright spot at the show is the Retail Resource Center, a comfortable and private lounge area at the front corner of the show floor reserved for independents to gather, check email, have a seat and some refreshments, and meet other retailers. Each morning of the show, NPA East hosts a roundtable discussion for retailers covering any areas of concern retailers have. This year, we had retailers from all around the country, as well as a few from international locations. One of the best aspects of the roundtables is the free and open exchange between retailers. This informal atmosphere really encourages the sharing of useful ideas, all moderated by a knowledgeable director from the board of NPA East.

Indy-Friendly Exhibitors
In our efforts to make the show more relevant to independent natural products retailers, NPA East has worked closely with New Hope to raise awareness among exhibitors of how important independent natural products retailers are to the industry because they make up the largest plurality of industry market share. "Indy Friendly" exhibitors displayed an "Indy Friendly" shelf talker at their booths, wore "Indy Friendly" lapel buttons, and gave independents additional discounts available only at the show. Attendees said that writing orders at these "Indy Friendly" booths was much easier than in years past, and that their conversations were more productive because the booth staffs were more knowledgeable about the products and distribution channels.
NPA East is continuing its efforts with New Hope to raise awareness of exhibitors about the critically important role independent retailers play in the industry, and we are working on other incentives for 2010.

Travel Incentives
To help retailers take advantage of the show, New Hope reimbursed retailers who took ground transportation to the convention center. In addition, hotel availability was excellent this year, and room rates were quite affordable. With Boston completing the "Big Dig," getting around the City is much easier than it has ever been, and with its relatively small size, restaurants, museums, fisherman's wharf, the Italian North End and other cultural aspects of Boston are walkable or just a short cab ride away. Even flying into the City is a breeze, with the Callahan Tunnel newly renovated; traffic to and from the airport flows quickly in both directions.

A Great Overall Value
As you plan your 2010, we hope you'll consider attending Expo East beginning with the exclusive Retailer Workshop on Wednesday, October 13, 2010, and continuing with exhibits and all other events on Thursday, October 14 through Saturday, October 16. One of the nicest aspects of the schedule is the show ends on Saturday, allowing you to get back and settled into your store for the following week. Within a few hours drive or flight from everywhere in the NPA East 12-state region, Boston is a destination worth considering. And, the benefits of concentrated knowledge, face-to-face networking, and the best of the natural products industry all under one roof make this one of the best investments you can make for your store. See you in October! JJ

Please visit our Website www.npaeast.org and click on any of the links to "Expo East" to register and for additional information.