“It’s probably the best attended show that we do,” said Bruce Klein, director of marketing for the third-generation, family-owned enterprise. “We’re looking forward to a good show.”
Maurice Auerbach Inc. has been a consistent presence at the expo since its inception and has always found value in attending and exhibiting.
“One of the reasons we make a point to go every year is we get a very wide range of customers who come to this show,” Klein said. “You pretty much have everyone — chains, the New York market, the Philly market, other markets, wholesalers… you get a very wide variety of attendees.”
Success at the show begins with the company’s location on the show floor, which allows its team members to meet with most of the attendees.
“We usually have about four or five associates at the show and we split up our time and talk to as many people as possible,” Klein said. “We’re usually at the first booth when you walk in the show, so it’s the perfect place for us.”
This year, Maurice Auerbach Inc. will be at booth No. 400, and it will feature a wide variety of the company’s products.
“We bring almost all the items we carry and we try to make a nice display, but we also leave room in the booth for our customers to come in and talk,” Klein said. “Every year, our booth is a little different. Sometimes the space that they allocate us changes so we work with it.”
The major goal for Klein and the rest of the team is to facilitate the sale of more products to existing customers, though bringing in new business is always top of mind as well.
“It’s tough to get new customers, but when you see one of your customers and talk to them and show them other items, hopefully they will buy more from us,” Klein said. “It’s always nice to get a new customer but that’s difficult. People are usually set in their ways, so unless they are looking to replace something or unhappy, there’s not much of an opportunity. But we try as best as possible, especially if we see a new tag of someone we don’t know.”
When at the show, Klein usually stays in the booth the majority of the time because he wants to ensure he doesn’t miss any customers. But he’ll take some time to walk around the floor in the morning and looks forward to the other events associated with the show, such as the cocktail party.
“It’s all part of the networking opportunities available,” Klein said.
Maurice Auerbach Inc. has enjoyed a good year, though Klein admits things are getting tougher and tougher with logistics and planning, but all-in-all, he’s happy what’s he’s seen in 2024.
“We’re always looking to grow and expand our sales force,” he said. “We’re looking at things in our warehouse and hired a new operations manager (Tom Arends) who will review everything that goes on in our packing and shipping facility and will be in charge of everything in that area.”
