FEATURE
The NACS Show Is Back The convenience store industry's premier expo is ready to resume course By Don Longo UNLESS THERE IS A MAJOR SETBACK in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 NACS Show will be open for business in October with few changes or restrictions compared to pre-COVID-19 exhibitions.
“Right now, the format and agenda for the 2021 NACS Show will be very similar to previous shows,” Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives for the industry's trade association, told Convenience Store News. The show is scheduled to be held at Chicago's McCormick Place on Oct. 5-8. Lenard assured CSNews that the association will continue to monitor everything show related, from transportation to hotels to the convention center's safety requirements. He pointed out that ”everything went smoothly” for the recently held World of Concrete show, which was held at McCormick Place June 8-10. ”That show is roughly the same-size expo as ours in both exhibitor space and attendance,” said Lenard. ”That's a really great sign.” One nod to the pandemic will be several COVID-19 related education sessions on the show's agenda. 116 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m
To help ensure safety, this year’s expo floor will have wider aisles to minimize traffic congestion and allow for social distancing.
“There's at least one session with 'COVID' in the title, and several other sessions allude to trends, such as home delivery, supply chain efficiency, new last-mile experiences, etc., that developed around the pandemic,” Lenard said. Other sessions will focus on the industry's current No. 1 challenge: the labor shortage. Another positive sign for the expo is that exhibitor space is more than 90 percent filled, and expectations are that show floor space will once again be sold out. Lenard expects more suppliers to sign up as travel restrictions at many companies expire in the third quarter of the year.
