OPERATING OPPORTUNITIES

WALLY LYNCH

Paid Associates

PO. Box 741623 Dallas, Tx.75243

UVAen and building material

Ib dealers. home centers and hardware stores have for some time been selling furniture items, lighting fixtures and lamps, appliances and floor coverings. These products, along with decorative accessories and draperies, are the core lines of the retail membership of the National Home F-urnishings Association. Last month the Dallas Winter Home Furnishings Market was held and to keep current on this part of our business I attended it.

There are two such shows each year in a dozen different cities at which the national and affiliated associations participate. The Dallas market, one of the larger ones, normally has an attendance registration of dealers, manulacturers and reps of about 15,000. There is no registration fee. The meeting is scheduled for five days, but the activities were primarily clustered during the weekend.

What our industry sells is in the minority in relationship to the total product mix that was presented. The home furnishing industry is as fragmented as ours, but, according to the almanac and the Statistical Abstract, they do a good deal more business than we do with about half the stores.

What blew my mind was the emphasis on education. In a tightly packed two days there were 28 seminars and workshops. Of these, l6 were free. The other 12 were available in a one day package that included breakfast and lunch for $25. Here are descriptions of some of the freebies:

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