Well Duh!

So I recently was reading through the latest issue of NAILS and came across Hannah's editorial regarding IBS Las Vegas. Now, of course I know everyone else has also read it, so I don't have to go into the details, right? But essentially, Hannah talked about the show — and tradeshows in general — and made mention of some of the vendors at the show (at all larger shows, actually) that she didn't quite understand a purpose for.

Vendors who sell things like knock-off designer handbags and wallets, clothes, and such.

Well, I could have just written a letter to the editor about it, but I have this here blog, see?

So I got to thinking: On one hand, I found good points and humor in Hannah's editorial. Of course knock-off handbags have nothing to do with the salon industry. These vendors do take up space on the show room floor. These vendors also bring money to the show so that we can continue to have it. And, more vendors means being able to spread expenses thinner, which means that smaller industry vendors should (theoretically, but that's another rant) be better able to afford to take out space at the larger shows.

But mostly we buy that crap. Oh yeah! We line up around those crazy booths and make a mess out of their carefully arranged inventory and we eat it up. So as long as it's popular, those vendors are going to stay. Which is all fine by me.

But that's still not the primary point I wanted to make. I wanted to say that those items do have a place in the industry. And I find it a bit ironic to hear Hannah saying she didn't see it ...

RETAIL.

That nasty, dirty word that nobody likes to hear, that Hannah just wrote about not too long ago in the same editorial column! Those "junk" items make great retail items. And just because I didn't go to the show and buy a trunk-full of those purses to haul back to the salon and resell to my clients doesn't mean I didn't take a business card and ask the pertinent questions so that I can contact that vendor again in the future to order larger quantities for retail.

That's why they belong at the tradeshows for the salon industry. And that's why Hannah should be embracing their presence!