Presenters address economy
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, March 17, 2008
Dallas — On top of all the buying and selling, many of the nearly 3,200 retailers, vendors and others at Nationwide Marketing Group's PrimeTime convention here attended educational sessions, networked and even rode the mechanical bull at the famous Gilley's Dallas.
The convention kicked off with entertainment from artist Michael Israel, who drew applause with his patriotic, onstage "art in concert," feverishly painting to music an image of the Statue of Liberty.
High Point University President Nido Qubein gave a keynote address, encouraging people here to ignore those who talk about economic gloom and forge their own path, as he did at the university. Since he became president of his alma mater in 2005, HPU has pumped millions into improvements, gained popularity among students and parents, and seen admission requests skyrocket.
"I was determined we would do something grand, something remarkable," said Qubein.
Many members of Nationwide and Furniture Marketing Group — which held concurrent sessions here at the Hilton Anatole — took advantage of Nationwide's PrimeTime University and a range of educational seminars. Among them were presentations by Dave Allison of Allison & Associates on how to speak the consumer's language, and Sam Allman of Allman Consulting on how critical it is to maintain strong profit margins.
When times are tough, retailers have a habit a lowering their prices to draw business, Allman said. But that's the worst thing they can do, as the loss of margin is nearly impossible to make up with added volume. Instead they should be raising their prices, he said.
