NACDS touts success of Successful Selling event

ALEXANDRIA, Va. Following a well-received Successful Selling Conference, hosted by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and Walgreens, the NACDS released this statement:

In its ongoing commitment to help small- and medium-sized companies successfully develop their business with drug, food and mass retailers, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores hosted its second annual Successful Selling Conference from Feb. 10–12 at the Lincolnshire Marriott in Lincolnshire, Ill.

“NACDS recognizes the overwhelming appreciation and support for this unique conference for small- and medium-sized manufacturers and will continue to host the conference annually,” said NACDS president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson.

This year’s conference was coordinated with Walgreens’ “New Vendor Days” program, which resulted in 277 twenty-minute, one-on-one appointments for vendors to present new products to the Walgreens Purchasing Team. NACDS has also extended this partnership opportunity to other retail members.

Viewed by many new and emerging companies as a helpful and hands-on learning prerequisite for the NACDS Marketplace Conference—the industry’s largest gathering of drug, food and mass retailers—the 2008 Successful Selling Conference furnished a total of 194 participating vendor companies, and an additional 900 appointments with brokers, sales & marketing companies and industry marketing consultants.

The conference included a comprehensive and appealing Successful Selling education program, which was carefully designed by the NACDS Retail Advisory Board through its Outreach & Business Development committee. The education program armed attendees with the fundamentals of bringing products to market by covering an array of timely topics: The Retail Perspective; Building Your Brand Online; Building Consumer Awareness and Consumption–Getting it Rung at the Register, The Role of Advertising and Promotion; and Business Practices–The Hoops and Hurdles.

This year’s conference speakers featured George Riedl, Executive Vice President, Marketing for Walgreen Co.,; David Van Howe, Corporate Vice President, Purchasing, Walgreen Co.; Dan Mack, Vice President, Consumer Sales & Customer Marketing, DenTek Oral Care, Inc.; Mike Jones, Vice President, Business Development and Trade Relations, Del Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and David Staszak, Vice President of Sales, Triumph Pharmaceuticals.