2024 NTP-STAG Expo Deemed an ‘Amazing Experience’ – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The final curtain has been drawn on the NTP-STAG Expo 2024, presented by Airxcel, and the verdict is in: Exhibitors and dealers alike had plenty of positive things to say about the two-day trade show that took place at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center.
Highlighted by a strong showing of both supplier companies and dealer personnel interacting on a vibrant if not packed, trade show floor, the Expo was, by all accounts, an undeniable success.
RVBusiness caught up with several attendees to gauge their thoughts on the show:
• Jarod Lippert, chief marketing officer for LCI Industries, had nothing but good things to say about the show.
“Dealer traffic has been heavy since the doors opened last night,” he said. “We’ve seen just countless dealers come through all day today. We’re going to have a Power Hour later. It’s going to be nuts in here. So, overall, I’d say the show has been a success. It always is, but just this year has been really, really strong with a lot of dealer presence. So, we’re happy with the way it turned out.”
He was then asked whether this might bode well for the industry for the rest of the year.
“Well, I’ve been in this industry for over 20 years now, so I’m very careful to talk about optimism because it’s such a wacky industry. But if this show were to kind of spell out what the next couple months are going to look, then yeah, I’m optimistic,” he said. “I’m very bullish on the whole thing. I think people are here to buy and that’s good. So had a lot of good conversations. They’re looking at new products and everything seems normal, so that’s good.”
• “It’s been great. There’s lots of new product. There’s good pricing, and it’s good to get to see everybody,” said Lynne McCright of Family Camping Service Center in Amarillo, Texas, who said with the exception of COVID they’ve been coming to this and other distributor shows for about 25 years.
• Piar Adams, vice president of marketing, aftermarket, and international sales at Airxcel, said the show “felt pretty strong.”
“We’ll see how the orders shake out, but dealers seem to be quite optimistic, excited, and looking forward to a newer year,” he said. “We felt the attendance in the booth was stronger than last year with more people. And product feedback has been very good on a lot of the new products that we have. From the Velarium awning line to the Suburban griddle to the InVision appliances, plus the AQUA-HOT Gen 1, the response has been very good. That’s why we like a show like this because it gives us the ability to show actual new product to dealers in a setting where they can touch and feel it.”
• Marc Lubker, executive director of sales and marketing for Minneapolis, Minn.-based KING, said “It’s been an excellent show for us. We talked to a lot of dealers, US and Canada, and there seems to be a lot of optimism for what 2024 holds.”
• Kim Hartman, who’s with 401 Auto RV Canada dealership located in Kitchener, Ontario, said the show was “amazing.”
“But, to get through it in two days? It seems like we need more,” she said. “But the deals are absolutely wonderful, and second year doing it and absolutely back next year. There’s always deals. You have to check with every booth, basically, and talk to them. And, hopefully, they give you the deals that you’re looking for.”
• Erin Curtis, vice president of marketing and development for Genesis Products, said this was the first time her company has exhibited at the NTP-STAG Expo and it was “fantastic.”
“It really exceeded our expectations,” she said. “We’ve had an incredible amount of traffic to our booth for both sessions, and an overwhelmingly positive response on the product. Dealers have been really excited about it and we’ve been getting a lot of really good feedback, both on the product we have and ideas for how we can develop it in the future. So, it’s been really amazing.”
Curtis added that the show itself was an “amazing experience.”
“Everything from the food to the programming to the turnout. We’ve just been so thankful that we’ve come and it’s been an all-around wonderful experience,” she said.
• Colton Phelan, vice president of sales for Jaeger-Unitek, said the show was great and that they “couldn’t ask for a better turnout. We have several new products for 2024 so there’s a lot of excitement. But, yeah, it’s all we can do just to keep up with the traffic here at the booth.”
In fact, Phelan and his crew brought about 75 kits that contained 24 samples of the different seals the company manufactures so dealer techs can touch, feel the parts and match them up to our line card. They ran out of sample kits within the first couple of hours.
“So, we’re now taking names and numbers and addresses, and we’re going to be mailing out probably 50, 60 more,” he said.
• Raymond Padgett, vice president of sales and marketing for jack, leveling, and stabilization manufacturer Ultra-Fab Products in Elkhart, Ind., said, “We’ve had a lot of good conversations, a lot of good traffic, so we’re very pleased with it, that’s for sure. Yeah, it feels like we’re going to have a good year based upon the conversations I’ve had here.”
“There was a lot of positive conversations,” he continued. “There’s some people still worried about the economy and the election year and that kind of thing. But I think, overall, I get a good feeling about what we’re going to be able to do in 2024.”
• PJ Buerger with Princess Craft RV in Round Rock and Houston, Texas, said “It’s great to see some new products. We have seen some new things here that we hadn’t seen before. I think some of the pricing, particularly the power hours, are always really enticing, so that’s good to see. It really helps us stock up on some of the things that we sell all year long and that we need to turn a lot of so that’s been great.”
She added that it finally feels normal to be able to interact with people at a trade show in a post-Covid environment.
“This is the only place where we get to talk to the people who really know the product, who either build it or they’re the main distribution source of it, and they can talk about features that maybe we hadn’t thought about. They can compare to other products,” Buerger said. “So, that’s really always nice at a show to be able to talk to people that are right there, working with that product every day to tell us why we need to work with it, or maybe some of the selling features that we’d forgotten about.”
• Also appreciating the opportunity to meet face to face with others was Erik Lowry, who handles parts and service at Byron Powersports in Byron, Ga.
“Absolutely. I don’t think there’s any other way to do it,” he said. “I make this show every year. I’m fairly new at this dealership, and that was part of my negotiations when I took the position was that I will come to this show for every year that I’m with them to ensure that I’m doing the best possible job I can for our customers.”
As far as any products that captured his attention, Lowry singled out the Furrion air conditioners.
“I’ve always been a fan, but the technology of being able to run two ACs on a 30 amp, as well as their 18,000 BTU air conditioners is coming out, it’s going to be a big change,” he said.
“I always love coming,” Lowry continued, “and it’s pleasantly overwhelming with all the options that are out here, seeing the new products as we’re really concentrated on the new buyer as opposed to the old buyer. The new buyer always wants to do its greatest, the technology, the bells and whistles. Now that the age group is dropping who’s buying, this gives us an opportunity to not only learn what’s out there, but talk to the people who make and sell these products. So, if we have questions, we can get answers directly from the source.”
