From: ASAP
Thousands of college store buyers will head to Los Angeles next month to preview the products that will be the rage on college campuses throughout America this fall. CAMEX 2002, the main event in the rapidly growing $10.12 billion collegiate marketplace, is scheduled for February 20-24, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. More than 1,100 suppliers, distributors and manufacturers will vie for college store buyers’ attention in the hopes of growing their sales in the $100 billion student demographic this year. “College stores are really a bridge between student consumers and new products and emerging technologies,” said Brain Cartier, CAE, chief executive officer of the National Association of College Stores, the Oberlin-Ohio based trade group that has sponsored CAMEX for nearly 80 years. “Given the trend-setting that occurs on most campuses, college stores are always alert for new and unique items that will entice their student customers. And because many people form lifetime purchasing habits while they are at college, it can be quite lucrative to distribute new products through college stores. CAMEX is a extraordinary venue for these buyers and suppliers to conduct business,” Cartier said. The three-day trade show (February 22-24), featuring the newest innovations in more than 30 product categories, will be preceded by two days of intensive retail education, speakers and special events (February 20 and 21). Expected to be on-hand are noted authors David McCullough, Sandra Brown, Jim Collins and others, along with nationally recognized retail consultant George Whalin, and teen-expert Michael Wood, of Teenage Research Unlimited. The National Association of College Stores estimates that most buyers attending CAMEX 2002 will place orders for gifts/insignia or novelty items, followed by apparel; more than 20% of the buyers there will purchase between $20,000 and $100,000 in merchandise. Sales in the collegiate retailing industry climbed 11.5 percent during the past year.
Additional information on CAMEX 2002, including interview and photo opportunities, is available online at www.camex.org. Media credentials are available onsite or by calling Theresa Pedone at (800) 622-7498 x 2249.
About NACS Headquartered in Oberlin, Ohio, the National Association of College Stores (NACS) is the professional trade association representing more than 3,000 collegiate retailers and about 1,200 associate members who supply books and other products to college stores. Additional information on NACS can be found online at www.nacs.org. Additional information on CAMEX 2002, the Association’s 79th annual convention and trade show, is online at www.camex.org.
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