At the time of writing this month's Musings, I've just finished packing for the Living Kitchen and Imm Cologne Shows in Germany. We’ve partnered with these amazing expos for a bit over six years, and it’s been a great experience.

Living Kitchen presents the latest ideas, solutions and trends for the kitchen, from innovative manufacturer presentations to world premieres of new kitchen furniture, electrical appliances, cooking accessories, and the latest trends. Living Kitchen has become the international kitchen sector’s key event, promising innovative and exciting glimpses into the future of the kitchen industry.

The NKBA will be joining this year’s event, introducing an intriguing new international element. In fact, NKBA Global Connect Cologne aims to strengthen connections between the German kitchen and bath industry and the North American market. By the time you read this, the show will have concluded, and the NKBA will have hosted two events: the NKBA Global Connect Media and Manufacturer VIP Dinner, and the NKBA Global Connect VIP Meet Up and Presentation.

VIP guests will have included members of the North American design media, NKBA Global Connect liaisons, NKBA Insiders, international influencers, and design professionals. The NKBA will have presented its 2019 K&B Industry Outlook, Lifestyle, and Product Trend report, followed by a panel discussion with North American media, and a Q&A session. The program will have opened countless opportunities for networking with international design professionals, bloggers, influencers, members of the North American media and NKBA executives.

Here at The Retail Observer we applaud the NKBA – joining this event has been a great opportunity for our readers and the NKBA members. The international market is growing steadily, with a product mix, variety, and designs that are giving a fresh new dimension to the North American market. Through the partnerships we’ve made overseas with trade shows, manufacturers and associations, we’ll be bringing you more European and international news, products and stories to keep you updated on our side of the industry. Next month, I’ll fill you in on my experiences at the event, and share additional details from the show.

Happy Retailing,
Moe Lastfogel
moe@retailobserver.com 

Thanks for being associated with The Retail Observer

By definition, to be an associate is to be joined in a relationship such as with a colleague, ally or companion, etc. You as readers, and we as The Retail Observer, are associated by having the goal of bettering our businesses and ourselves through the sharing of information, and offering assistance, knowledge, and friendship.

We also participate in co-opatition. Wait, that’s not a word, you may say. What is co-opatition (co-op-a-ti-tion)? It's simply cooperation between competitors.

One of the best ways to move product is by joining an association. Through our associations and affiliations, we can implement change in an industry through the power in our numbers. As you look at our masthead to the right of this column, you will find we have affiliated our magazine with many of the top associations and buying groups in this industry, with more affiliations coming down the road. We’ve done this to help you, our readers, to increase sales.

Today, approximately 25,000 copies of The Retail Observer (18,000 and 7,000 digital) are distributed throughout North America and in 36 countries overseas. If each copy of the magazine is read by five people, that would equate to a pass-along readership of over 125,000 people (and we are pretty sure that is a conservative number). Just think, you belong to a large group of individuals that have a similar goal in mind as you—to move product, to move boxes.

In 2019, we are introducing new writers and sections in the magazine. With this issue, we'd like to welcome Steve Morris with his new column, On Brand, and Mario Juarez with Business Mindset. We are working within our industry to bring you stories of successes and lessons from failures. We will help you to find seminars and educational opportunities to assist you and your employees to further your skills in this ever-changing marketplace. We will look for value-added opportunities through our advertisers to bring you products and services to help you move product and increase your bottom line. What’s new, what’s hot and who’s who will still be the main part of what we do.

Here’s to the possibilities of the New Year— may you turn your inventory often!

Happy Retailing,
Moe Lastfogel
​moe@retailobserver.com