Here’s some great advice for how to navigate the NACS Show—“Start with the end in mind,” said Jeff Miller, CEO of Millers Energy and the 2010-11 NACS chairman.

Miller has been to over two decades worth of NACS Shows, and although his company no longer operates stores, his expertise is a great blueprint for how to divide and conquer four days of networking, education and general sessions, and over 430,000 square feet of Expo.

“We typically brought about four to five people to the NACS Show and we each picked areas we were interested in,” he said. Each member of the team also got to pick an idea to pursue while at the Show.

“When we came back from the Show, we would meet while everything was still fresh, and everybody would talk about what they saw, what education sessions they went to, what they learned and where they saw it,” Miller continued.

Those ideas turned into conversations about where they could improve the business, what they could do better and what to focus on.

“And then everybody got one idea that they could own, so they were empowered to go out and either order the product or explore a relationship with a particular vendor and bring it back to the group,” he said.

Some of those ideas stuck, and some didn’t, “but we had four or five people each focusing on one particular project or product, as opposed to one person trying to line up all these different things,” he said.

For the education sessions, Miller said his team chose the ones that gleaned new ideas and solutions.

“We always had weaknesses that needed to be shored up. Wherever we had problem spots, if there were sessions discussing those areas, we’d make sure somebody attended those. To get the most out of it for our business, we tried to focus in on what the upcoming challenges were,” Miller said.

Timing Is Everything

The NACS Show’s timing early in the fourth quarter makes it a great opportunity for participants to chart their course for the coming year.

“The timing is perfect because it forced us to think about the next year in October. It fits nicely into the overall planning, and not just for new products and vendors—it’s also about your marketing plans and that’s something we’re working on in the fourth quarter,” said Miller.

After each day at the NACS Show, the New England-based Nouria team gets together to share the ideas they saw and what they learned during the day. “And sometimes those ideas were learned during the education sessions,” said Joe Hamza, chief operating officer at Nouria.

“When we come back from the NACS Show, we put everything together and say, ‘here’s how we’re going to rank these ideas and here’s what we’re going to execute.’ We divide these things among the various departments and get to work,” Hamza said.

Meg Rice, director of marketing at Nouria, attended her first NACS Show in 2023. “It opened my eyes to all the possibilities in the industry,” she said.

This year, Rice is ready to dive into all that the NACS Show offers, including what the team at Nouria will see and learn to help guide strategic decisions. “The Show is so big—you can’t see it all yourself,” she said.

A Cannot Miss Event

If you’re still thinking about whether to attend the NACS Show, here’s what the veterans suggest:

“If you want to learn what the industry is doing, see the new innovations produced by our suppliers, meet other retailers and share ideas with them or get insights from them, it is the only place to go to,” said Hamza.

Sandy Delli Carpini, CMO of Seasons Corner Market, described the NACS Show as “your wildest dreams of products—things you could never even imagine are there.” She added that as long as you’re wearing good shoes, you will be able to find the latest products and ideas.

Miller started attending the NACS Show in 1994, but said the shows had a bigger impact on him and his business after he got more involved with NACS as an association in 1997.

“The most impactful thing you can do, if you want to grow your company, is get on a NACS committee and get involved because that’s where the action is. You can walk around 400,000 square feet all day long and go home with a bag full of candy and a bunch of ideas in your head. But you really want to hang out with the people who are implementing the ideas,” said Miller.

“Go to the Show, meet some NACS people, and then find out how you can get involved. It will pay huge dividends,” he added.

The Secret Sauce

There are more than 1,300 booths covering hundreds of thousands of exhibit hall space at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Needless to say, a gameplan is essential. If you’re looking for what’s cool and new, here’s some advice for finding the unicorns:

Cool New Products Preview Room

Here’s where you’ll find hundreds of cool products that are new to the industry—everything from general merchandise to foodservice equipment.

Retailers, wholesalers and convenience distributors can also take advantage of seeing these new products prior to the official NACS Show opening.

New Exhibitor Area

This is where you’ll find companies that have never exhibited at the NACS Show before. It’s like a mini NACS Show of just new products, including everything from technology to emerging categories. Retailers, wholesalers and convenience distributors can gain early access to the New Exhibitor Area one hour before the Expo opens to all attendees.

Day Three of the Expo

The last day of the NACS Show is where a lot of the magic happens.

“Our exhibitors typically see their heaviest booth traffic on days one and two. The third day is a great opportunity to set up your prescheduled appointments,” said Jeff McQuilkin, director of exhibit sales and services at NACS.

“I’ve talked to many suppliers who said the third day is their favorite day because that’s when they get business done. So take advantage of it,” he said.

Every. Square. Inch.

“There’s some gold on the fringe, so don’t ignore the booths on the perimeter of the Expo hall,” said McQuilkin. Oftentimes these companies are newer to the NACS Show, or were able to jump in quickly off the waitlist.

The more NACS Shows you attend, the more you’ll see a first- or second-time company with a 10x10 booth grow into a top brand within their category within a few short years.

“Take the time to look at the website or the NACS Show mobile app before arriving to get an idea of which booths you want to see, where they are and try to plan out your day,” suggested McQuilkin. “The Expo is too big to go out there without a plan, so you’ll want to be as efficient with your time as possible—two and a half days goes by fast.”