PCA Magazine Show Issue 2021

30 PCA The Magazine | SHOW 2021 PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG C ourtnie Owens’ reaction to her first PCA Trade Show in 2018 is probably like most first-time attendees: “Wow,” she remembers thinking. As the owner of Smokehouse Cigars in Atlanta, she had heard stories from fellow retailers about the experience, but she readily admits there is no substitute for experiencing it firsthand. “It was amazing. It was huge. And I was thinking, OK, here we go, we got a lot to do,” she says. “And, of course, we never made it all the way around. We didn’t have a strategy, we weren’t prepared about the logistics of the floor. Even our retailer friends didn’t give us any foresight other than you come back with a lot of cigars, you smoke the whole time and there are great parties every night. At the time, we were still a very new business and it was all new to us. So it was just an overwhelming experience. But we learned, and the next year we came back with a plan and strategy.” Whether you’re a 20-year veteran of the PCA Trade Show or it’s your first time attending, the industry’s premier annual event can sometimes feel like sensory overload. It’s Vegas. It’s cigars. It’s connecting with friends. It’s maximizing your business. It’s Vegas. You want to have fun, of course, but you also want to remember why you are attending. You have a business to run, and this is the best opportunity to lock in great deals and maybe discover a new cigar or two that you think your customers will enjoy. So what’s the best strategy? How do you best maximize your time? We asked a handful of retailers, from veterans to newbies, what they’ve learned over the years to offer you some tips on experiencing a successful trade show. DO YOUR HOMEWORK “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success,” said Alexander GrahamBell. It’s seems almost a given, but the first step that retailers can often overlook in their excitement at attending the show is understanding their business’s needs. Where are the holes in your humidor? What facings have taken up space too long? Howmuch space do you have for new products? Do you want to increase facings of a current line? Answering these questions will not only help you at the show but will help you with inventory management throughout the year. “We always pull facings before the show,” says Jessica Hutson, owner of Just For Him in Springfield, Missouri. “The show is our time to look and say, ‘Here’s all the things we thought were doing well and aren’t.’ It’s probably one of the worst weeks of the year for me because it never feels good to realize some of your favorites have been sitting on the shelf too long. In fact, I just took home two boxes of one of my favorites because we literally haven’t sold a single one since putting them out. But it’s important to know what’s working and what isn’t.” This inventory audit allows Hutson and her team to get a clear picture of their needs, and once they have a general idea of the space that will be available, N A V I G A T I N G Best Practices for “The show is our time to look and say, ‘Here’s all the things we thought were doing well and aren’t.’” B Y G R E G G I R A R D N A V I G A T I N G T H E S H O W PCA 2 0 2 1