(The retail community is counting down the days until Mohawk’s Edge Summit takes place this winter. As such, we’ve tapped several retailers, large and small, to explain what they’re looking forward to most.)
Reason to attend: Networking
Mark McCartney,
Owner
McCartney Carpet One Floor & Home with two locations in Wis.
It’s the networking and the marketing—that’s the reason I go and where I see the most benefit. You get a chance to talk to dealers from all across the country that are doing the same thing as you but have a totally different perspective and they run their businesses differently. There’s always something that you pick up. It could be the smallest of things—like how you’re doing your waste disposal. There’s just so many little things that we do on a day-to-day basis that when you hear another perspective, it’s just invaluable.
Your families get to know each other too, because a lot of people do bring their spouses and/or kids to these. So, it doesn’t take long to create a friendship with some of them and stay in touch. I have one in Ohio, who I met at Edge. I’m in Wisconsin, but I could call him and be like, ‘Hey, I’m having an issue with this product. What are you guys experiencing? Do you use it? And if not, why?’ So you have an instant network of people that you’re linked with—not only by the industry that we’re in but also by a manufacturer that we all want to sell and support and have a relationship with.
It is just great time. And yeah, you’re in a setting where you’re having a good time—you may be having a cocktail—but you’re still talking about your business because that’s our lives. And everybody’s willing to share because you’re not standing there with competitors, they could be from a completely different state. And people are more forthcoming and more willing to share ideas in that setting.