Spring 2003 TNNA Show in Columbus
During the first weekend in June 2002, we attended our first TNNA convention in Columbus, Ohio. We drove there and back in the yarnmobile. Pretty easy trip.
When we arrived, we were scheduled to attend a few seminars. Jacqui attended a two hour session on finding a finisher and I attended a three hour session on accounting and business issues affecting knitting stores. My seminar was led by Peter Levin, husband of Susan Levin who is one of the two head honchos of K1C2 Yarns. Peter comes out of the retail mens clothing business, mostly for department stores. He had done a lot of preparation. The audience was comprised 90% of women shop owners, half of whom were knitting while listening. Although Peter had asked attendees to bring various financial forms for their businesses, it looked to me like only about 6 did (20%). Since Jacqui's business has not yet opened (so we have no forms) and I don't knit, I chose to check in on my email via my Blackberry while Peter spoke. It was quite a contrast - my Blackberry clicking as needles clicked throughout the room. Peter did a great job of going through fundamental retailing/accounting concepts. The seminar confirmed that Jacqui and I have done our homework, even though we've never been in retail. One of the most interesting points that came up was that almost no stores put their prices on the yarn, a few don't even post prices in their bins. Fascinating.
After the seminars, TNNA hosted a Fashion Show and Cocktail Party. Picture above.
The next morning we had 8 am seminars. Jacqui attended the final part of Peter Levin's seminar while I attended a seminar on Point of Sale systems. I was amazed a bit by the discussion at that seminar. The speaker emphasized that the system is highly efficient when products come bar coded but that because almost no products are bar coded, it was not clear to him whether the POS system increased his profitability. I mentioned that the TNNA show was a good time for everyone in the room to ask manufacturers to start bar coding. The speaker said I was wasting my time and but for one other guy on the other side of the room, there was no support for the notion. Fascinating.
At 10 am, the Exhibition Hall opened and we walked through. Smaller than I expected with about 275 exhibitors and 600 store owners. No real crowds. Easy to talk to all the manufacturer reps. I asked each one about their plans for bar coding. One rep, from a yarn accessories firm, told me that if I wanted to play on computers, I should go into a different business. Most other yarn companies said that they would bar code if demand would warrant it. Jacqui bought baskets for the store, knitting bags to sell, and books and magazines. She also bought some Heirloom yarn from Australia from a nice couple running Russi Distributors and some alpaca yarn from Blue Sky Alpaca.
After the show, Jacqui's cousin, Liz, who lives in Zanesville, Ohio came and had a few drinks with us and dinner. Lots of fun.
I attended another seminar on inventory management. Most of the time was spent on manually tracking inventory since so few knitting stores use POS systems or bar codes. Fascinating.
My take on the show: we may not make any money but we will have the most sophisticated systems in place of any kntting store around!! (And I think Jacqui will be a star!)
Snapped on 06.17.02 || More WoolWinders:A Knitting Salon Photos || Comments
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