Many of the intended readers of this blog may currently be participating in the ASD/AMD Show in Las Vegas this week (3/15-18).  I wish all of you the greatest success at an event that continues to be critical to general merchandisers in the US and beyond. For those of you interested in developing new business, as you may know already, there is a growing demand for home/gift, general merchandise and new categories by apparel retailers who are looking for that one niche product that will get new customers into the store and allow their apparel lines to sell themselves. Accordingly, our team at the Off Price Specialist Center is launching a new salon area at our August Off Price Show called “HOME.”  HOME @ the Off Price Show is designed to be a home/gift, gen merch and new product “incubator” for apparel retailers looking to add more excitement at their stores. It is a ground level opportunity for vendors in these categories to make a significant impact at the largest and perhaps ONLY Off Price Show in the apparel industry.  Our apparel “jobbers” or off price specialists (the newer, more politically correct term) have become known as heroes to struggling apparel retailers who have found excellent values at our semi-annual trade show – which is the offical Off Price Show of the multi-venue/concept Las Vegas Fashion Week. Home/Gift, Gen Merch / hard goods are not new to the Off Price Show.  My good friend Larry Manus (who is at ASD this week) has been bringing his hard lines to the Off Price Show since its inception in 1995.  “I meet entrepreneurs and savvy retailers who already got the message about the need for diversification.”  His New Jersey-based company, United Auction LLP, has been wildly successful at our show in hard goods, as has St. Louis off price specialist CWC Inventories.  And as long ago as 2003, when I was first involved with the Off Price Show as its outside marketing agent, I met candle and gift vendors in the second last row of the show who were doing cartwheels because they were writing orders like crazy from aggressive retailers looking for new products. Now that I have been more directly involved with the show for the past 5+ years, it doesn’t surprise me that there is a great fit for home/gift and gen merch vendors at Off Price.  Our concept is known to many of our seasoned buyers as “the treasure hunt” because you are sure to find 1-2 new products (not on your pre-show shopping list) that could make your whole season or year.  The show is not arranged by category because of the nature of the off price business.  Our vendors carry either all categories or they specialize in one or two, plus they may come across an opportunity in a new category or product line that they know (based on their years of experience) could be a winner for their retail customers or prospects.  For Home/Gift, Gen Merch and new category vendors, we are making a more centralized HOME salon area to accommodate our largest retailers (who serve on our retail advisory board) who have been begging us for this kind of centralized space so that they can go back to their offices and – mind you they are all CMOs, CEOs and other executive types) tell them about the great values they found in bed & bath, table top, home decor, gift and other non-apparel categories that could be real winners for their chain. I invite all who are interested to contact me at the Off Price Specialist Center at either 262.754.6910 or dbrowne@offpriceshow.com.  I feel that this is an exciting opportunity for these vendors to develop new business that happens right on our show floor.  If you need further assurance, talk to my good friend Jason Prescott, President of JP Communications, whose TopTenWholesale.com is an official sponsor and media partner for the Off Price Show and has been since 2001 (I think).  Jason is a real visionary who’s very big on building bridges online for wholesalers and retailers, and takes advantage of the onsite connections at the Off Price Show to transcend this message across apparel retail lines.  Thanks, Jason, for this wonderful blog and for all the great things you do to support our respective industries.

The new Wholezilla.com is set to launch tomorrow. We have put so much time and effort into this project over the last year. I’d like to thank all of those involved in the development of the 1st ever, TRUE, Business to Business Wholesale Shopping Cart Search Engine! Wolezilla’s design is impeccable, and its search results are unparalleled. Wholezilla.com will be scouring wholesale products from 1000’s of manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, drop shippers and distributors conducting e-commerce. Retailers will finally have the unbiased ability to scan multiple products, from multiple vendors, and make much more informative buying decisions. Get ready! Wholezilla is going to change the way wholesale buyers locate wholesale merchandise online.

It’s coming! Can you wait? I can’t!

We have been working around the clock on this project for 8 months. Some of you have the inside scoop on Wholezilla.com

For those of you wondering…This is the first ever B2B shopping cart search engine. That’s right! It’s been done for consumers by a few ( Pricegrabber, Shopzilla and Froogle.) This is the first crack at the wholesale industry.

Let’s face it..There are 1000’s of wholesalers, manufacturers, importers, drop shippers and distributors out there. Many of these small businesses have little means to market their products, and the landscape for reputable companies, like JP Communications, developing communication platforms that effectively bring together retailers and wholesalers, is far and few. We are here to provide what these thousands of suppliers are seeking – a robust platform with features unlike any other search engine!

We are going to debut with 100’s of thousands of awesome products from premier names in the industry. All you SEO’s get ready. JP Communication’s innovations will inevitably take this industry a bit further….Let’s get ready to rock!

Happy Selling.

-Jason