NTP-STAG Show: 2023’s Largest RV Aftermarket Event
2023 Expo Gaylord Rockies
The countdown’s underway for NTP-STAG’s EXPO 2023, a pivotal RV aftermarket trade show scheduled for Jan. 16-17 at the all-new Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center located some 30 minutes from downtown Denver in Aurora, Colo.
This year’s Airxcel-sponsored show, the industry’s largest distributor trade show, includes two full days of supplier product showcases, educational seminars, exclusive promotions, special events and industry networking opportunities.
The NTP-STAG show annually draws hundreds of RV dealers, and a major attraction this year involves two legendary football greats as featured speakers: World champion NFL coach and commentator Brian Billick is scheduled to address Monday’s PRO Kick Off Breakfast to open the event and highly acclaimed quarterback, ESPN broadcaster and business entrepreneur Joe Theismann will deliver Tuesday’s keynote breakfast address sponsored by Carefree of Colorado.
Billick, head coach of Super Bowl-winning Baltimore Ravens for nine seasons, will share his Twelve Principals of Success while 12-year NFL veteran Theismann, who led the Washington Redskins to a Super Bowl victory, will discuss the “Challenge of Change.”
The show itself kicks off at 6 to 8 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 15, with a first-ever welcome reception sponsored by Lippert.
Bill Rogers
Bill Rogers, president of NTP-STAG, an Exeter, Pa.-based division of Keystone Automotive Operations, told RVBusiness in a recent “Capitol Talk” interview that prospects for the upcoming Colorado show are good – clearly exceeding last year and approaching more pre-pandemic normalcy for the industry at large. That goes for both attending dealers as well as exhibiting suppliers whose displays are to be set up in the all-new Gaylord Rockies’s 500,000-square-foot convention floor.
“Yeah, things look good,” said Rogers, whose company was still nailing down attendance numbers when interviewed by RVB. “Now, the market hasn’t been where it was in 2021, especially with regard to some of the aftermarket products that lend themselves to new unit sales. So, as those change, our sales of some of those related products change as well and we’re doing other things to make up for it. And I think there’s some really interesting areas that the dealers can benefit from right now in terms of product expansion and new categories to get into.”
Rogers, for example, sees dealers potentially benefitting from a spike in service demand in addition to a recent national shift toward trendy, off road-style “‘overlanding” RVs that tend to fit into a popular “van life” or “car camping” motif that’s popular among many of today’s younger buyers.
“In my mind,” he added, “that whole area really lends itself to the RV dealer to be more of a destination for those consumers to go to for the products that they’re looking for. And the RV dealers are getting into it for sure with a variety of units that tend to resemble those overlanding-type vehicles. But there’s a ton of other products that they can also participate in. And we’re trying to make sure that they have a good understanding of those products that are out there that we carry and can deliver to them.”
Rogers, at the same time, remains an ardent advocate for upgrading the industry’s handling of parts availability and consumer service support through “RECT,” an acronym for “Repair Event Cycle Time” which continues to be a focus for the industry and, most likely, a theme at this year’s Expo.
“Yes, we feel like we have a good solution and have participated with the OEs (manufacturers) in trying to help with that whole challenge that the industry has,” explained Rogers. “And for any of the OEs and dealers that we operate with, next day parts service is practically required.”
For more EXPO information, contact expo.ntpstag.com.
Source: https://rvbusiness.com/ntp-stag-show-2023s-largest-rv-aftermarket-event/
