As you walked onto the show floor in the San Diego Convention Center you were immediately struck by the energy in the room.
“We’ve had a great 84th annual LMC stockholder meeting and show here in San Diego,” said Andy Toombs, Senior Vice President of Purchasing for LMC. “Dealers from as far as Alaska, Florida, and Maine made the trip out here to the beautiful city of San Diego. There was great activity on the show floor, a lot of purchasing opportunities, special programs, education, and networking opportunities for our dealers, our suppliers, and our staff.”
LMC held its 84th Annual Meeting in San Diego, California March 21 – 23. Each year, LMC dealers from across the country come together for this unique buying and networking opportunity. This year had an added level of excitement as dealers and exhibitors spoke of the $4.8 billion in purchases that LMC achieved in 2018.
“It’s a buying show, we come out to buy, buy, buy,” said Dan Groth of HomeCo Lumber & Hardware. “We come out to see how LMC has been doing for the whole year. There’s a lot of good vendors and the show is more relaxed than some of your typical buying shows.”
On the show floor this year were a number of specialty exhibits including: the House of ModernView, Kitchen & Bath Showcase, Capital Equipment exhibit, and the New Products Showcase.
The New Products area featured nearly 100 products from more than 60 LMC suppliers. Taking home the top prize, as voted by the LMC dealers attending the show, was the Fastening Tool CAMO Drive from National Nail.
“One of the cool things about this product is it was developed alongside contractors,” said Eugene McCann of National Nail. “One of the main feature benefits is saving time, it’s easy to use, it’s versatile, and it’s affordable.”
Second place went to SKILSAW Power Tools for their 16 in. Worm Drive Carpentry Chain Saw. Third place was Delaney Hardware’s Deadbolt Z-Wave Smart Touchpad with Camera Bridge.
Friday night LMC hosted a special event aboard the USS Midway. The event transported attendees back in time to when swing was king. Guests enjoyed tours of the ship, flight simulators, and a plethora of antique aircrafts. The night culminated in an exciting fireworks display, sponsored by Huber Engineered Woods.
In addition to the buying and networking opportunities afforded to LMC dealers at the show are the unique educational opportunities. There were a number of National Kitchen & Bath Association accredited courses offered as part of the second annual Kitchen & Bath Showcase. There were also education sessions on the topics of social media marketing, leading in the artificial intelligence age, brand management, employee loyalty and retention, and recruiting.
New this year was an exciting round table offered by LMC’s Component Alliance—a newly reinvigorated group of dealers who are involved in truss manufacturing. The round table featured three industry facilitators from Mitek, Canfor, and Interfor. The groups discussed hot topics in the industry
“All of us here do business in different ways,” said Ike Padgett from Tindell’s Building Materials. “Having the ability to talk to each other and hear different strategies and methods is a huge benefit. It allows us to evaluate our own processes against others, look at new ideas, and look at our efforts to continuously improve. That’s a strength for this alliance.”
Throughout the event dealers expressed how much they enjoy this chance to get together with key suppliers, fellow dealers, and the LMC team.
“It’s been amazing this year,” said Virginia Fritsche from Tart Lumber Company. “I really enjoyed all the vendors, getting to see new products, and I really enjoyed the LMC events.”
LMC Dealers Ride the Wave in San Diego
