IDDBA Executive Director Carol Christison says a goal for the center is to show how anything can be turned into a fun merchandising theme. The theme for this year's show, also playing off the gambling mecca locale, is Dairy-Deli-Bake Jackpot of Ideas.

"Every year we develop a new theme," Carol Christison, executive director, IDDBA, says of the Show & Sell Center and its "Big Payoff" theme. "It can be based on the show theme, the location, or whatever trends are driving the industry. Our goal is to create food displays featuring sponsored products, great merchandising, new menus and creative signage. We want to put together an arena that invites retailers to come in, take pictures, steal our ideas — we even provide the planograms and source info — and take them home. By providing the creative spark, we show retailers they don't have to do a major remodel or buy a lot of new equipment. They can take our ideas and leverage what they have to build new business."

This year will mark IDDBA's 14th merchandising center that is part of the trade show. The association started the merchandising center, originally called the Ultimate Food Court, because it was looking for a way to differentiate its show from other shows, Christison says, explaining that there were a number of regional shows and other national shows that were after the same audience and exhibitor.

"We wanted to create a visual display that featured selected products, new merchandising ideas and ways to sell more deli meat, cheese and prepared foods. It was only later that we added a bakery focus, too," she says.

"We also thought it would be a good way to make money — by selling sponsorships. We were right on the first part — we created a compelling reason for retailers to choose our show over others — but we blew it on the second part," she continues. "The IDDBA board feels this is very important to the industry and subsidizes it financially by covering any expenses not paid for with sponsorships."

The center has changed quite a bit over time, Christison says. The early years just had product displayed in merchandising cases as IDDBA went for volume and variety.

"It really changed when we recruited a lot of retail merchandisers to help plan and execute it," Christison says. "At about the same time, we ran a merchandising contest with three retail teams right on the floor. It showed us and the world what creativity could bring to the event."

A few years ago, retail attendees also said it would be nice if they could have an idea book with some of the products and where to get them. The first resource book flew out of the boxes, Christison says. The next year, retailers wanted drawings of the cases, too. The next year they asked for the planograms, so they'd know where the product went, and IDDBA added planograms to the book.

Today, the Show & Sell Center has retailers, manufacturers and brokers working on the creative teams that put it together. This year, Christison says there will be around 40 volunteers putting it all together. With the exception of Christison, who is responsible for the theme, the layout, the equipment, the electrical and the bills, and her assistant, Cristie Jacobs, who coordinates all of the food and prop ordering and contracts with sponsors, the center is put together by volunteers.

Two volunteers, Allen Hendricks of Schreiber and Norma Gilliam of the Hubert Company, have been involved since the beginning and some retailers have been volunteering for six to 10 years or more, Christison says.

Hendricks says that working on the center helps keeps him up to date with new products in the marketplace as well as "stretching for new marketing ideas to sell at retail."

Another longtime volunteer, Lee Ann LaBore, corporate wholesale deli operations manager, SuperValu, also says she volunteers so that she can both stay on top of industry trends as well as help create trends. SuperValu has put its own twist on ideas from the center, she says.

Both LaBore and Linday Slevin, foodservice director, Brown & Cole, who helped with the Show & Sell Center for the first time last year, say helping create the center is a good opportunity to work closely with others in the industry. Slevin, who is working on the center again this year, calls volunteering for the project a "huge learning experience."

The whole team that puts together Show & Sell meets for one weekend in January at the Hubert merchandising center in Ohio. The theme is discussed and they're given their creative challenges. Each team meets again for one or two days in March and does other planning by phone, fax and e-mail. They'll fly into Las Vegas on the Thursday prior to the show and then work all day Friday and Saturday doing the merchandising and food prep. They'll finish up Sunday morning and open and close the departments each day.

Department themes for this year's Show & Sell Center include Cheezer's Palace, The Dough-to-go Bakery, The Deli Experience and 8 Wonders of the World, continuing on with the Las Vegas theme.

Cheese is a huge section, Christison says, noting that it's the single product that garners the most case space.

"Our creative retailers constantly amaze me at the ingenuity they show in coming up with packaging, presentation, foodservice and merchandising items," Christison says. "Each year, we've been able to get two different cheese merchandisers from Wegman's to help. We had European attendees last year who spent hours taking pictures of our displays. We heard lots of comments about 'that's how a cheese shop should look.'"

Only IDDBA exhibitors can have their products featured in the Show & Sell Center, and there is a fee that ranges from $1,000 to $20,000 in addition to the show exhibition fees. In addition to being merchandised as the products would be found at retail, the items are used in recipes, featured in signage and used for promotional displays. The earlier a sponsor comes in, the more time the retailers have to put their products into play. There's still limited space available but the cut-off will have to be soon, Christison says.

In addition to having their products displayed and used in a variety of creative ways, there's also an implied endorsement because the merchandising is being done by retailers, for retailers, Christison says.

"Sponsorship isn't for everyone but our roster includes mostly repeat sponsors — they're getting great value for their money. They can show prospects what the product looks like in their booths and then they can walk them back to the Show & Sell Center and show the prospect what it will look like in their store," Christison says.

Don Nebhan, national accounts manager, Land O'Lakes, says that Land O'Lakes is looking for the "wow factor" that sets the company apart at the show and having its latest products featured in the Show & Sell Center in addition to the company's booth gives them that "wow." The product is merchandised creatively and looks good in the center, he says.

"You know we're successful just by the number of shows that have tried to copy what we do and been unsuccessful," Christison adds, explaining it takes a strong vision and level of commitment to keep the Show & Sell Center fresh and exciting year after year.

"We give the teams their 'challenge,' give them the tools to execute it, provide a creative process, and get out of their way. Any success we've had is directly attributable to these incredibly wonderful, funny, talented volunteers," she says.

"We know it works because we've seen photos of supermarkets that have featured ideas that we created," she says. "They take their own pictures, match them up to the case layout, cross-check against the manufacturer product list and recreate the display when they get home.

"If it weren't being replicated at retail, they wouldn't need the details," she says of the demand for the resource book.

Christison says there is big time payoff for manufacturers who participate.

"These manufacturers would not keep coming back as sponsors year after year if there weren't a payback for them. And, many times, they increase their sponsorship level," she says.

CMN