Aurora, Ohio — Luxury Products Group celebrated a year of tremendous growth with their largest-ever Spring Expo, held Jan. 23-25 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando.

In welcoming members and vendors, Director Jeff MacDowell shared a list of successes that the group accomplished in 2018:

• Approval of 10 new vendors that will give showrooms a greater selection of products to offer their customers.
• New service providers with specialties including human resources, traffic measurement and aromatherapy.
• Added 27 new showroom members that will grow the purchasing and intellectual value of the group.
• Made a big investment building a new website that has tremendous additional functionality. During one of the business sessions, MacDowell led members and vendors on a tour of everything that is available to them on the site.
• Introduced a new Young Executives Division designed to encourage discussion and create a community of next generation leaders.
• Created The Luxury Report monthly magazine that contains the latest news of the group, industry events, as well as features on members, vendors and service providers.

LPG now has the purchasing power of more than 270 showrooms across the U.S. and Canada — and MacDowell says there is more to come.

“We have an even more aggressive growth campaign planned for this year,” he said. “We want to expand into some geographic markets that we aren’t currently serving and increase the diversity of our showroom mix.”

Guest speaker Robb Best of Elkay USA, a leading expert on the connection between neuroscience and sales, had showroom leaders thinking about how they sell and what customers notice when they come into a showroom.

Other educational sessions were led by industry executives and consultants on topics designed to increase the knowledge and capabilities of showrooms and their partners. Also, small group roundtable meetings were scheduled that allowed members and vendors to share questions and ideas on a variety of best practices.

Several well-deserved awards were presented during the event:

• Peter Ollestad and Strasser Woodenworks were recognized with the Best Booth Award
• Tonya Martin of ProSource was given a keepsake of thanks for her years of volunteer service to the group
• Rick’s Hardware and Decorative Plumbing was named Showroom of the Year
• Americh Corporation received the Vendor of the Year honor
• And during the final business session, Jeremy Smith of Central Arizona Supply shared a huge thanks and led a round of applause for Director Jeff MacDowell and the LPG team for putting together such a tremendous event.

Of course, there was plenty of time for some fun, friendship and networking. A welcome reception was held outdoors in a beautifully decorated lakefront setting on the hotel property. Members and vendors had a chance to greet each other and catch up as a four-piece band performed.

One of the most talked-about highlights of the event was an evening at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. LPG arranged for chartered busses to transport everyone from the hotel to Universal Studios, which opened the massive park just for the LPG group. That private access meant unlimited rides on the virtual reality roller coaster, a feast of traditional British fare including Shepard’s Pie, Fish & Chips and Sticky Toffee Pudding, and a chance to leisurely stroll through all of the exhibits and shops. Quite a few attendees were dressed as cape-wearing wizards complete with magical wands. It was truly the hit of the event, with many members and vendors commenting that “it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

To conclude the 2019 Spring Expo, LPG hosted a beach-themed dinner and party that allowed everyone a chance to unwind, put on their dancing shoes, don some fun props for photo booth fun in an old VW van, and have caricatures drawn by a local artist.

“This was the best-attended, most-engaged Luxury Products Group event in its history,” praised MacDowell. “Our members came to the meeting prepared to buy, and some vendors walked away with over 30 display orders in hand in just one day of meetings. I am excited about the future of LPG with our investment in technology and our focus not just on the vendor partners, but on creating the best shopping experience for the customers that enter an LPG-supported showroom. There is no better time to be in LPG than right now!”

About LPG:
Luxury Products Group was created in 2009 by the members of Omni Corporate Services Ltd., Inc., as the avenue for members to network with like-minded people sharing ideas and challenges to expand their showroom businesses, as well as an opportunity to buy and sell products from a variety of showroom-oriented vendors worldwide. LPG is now a vertical under the IMARK Plumbing Division.