If you attended the Closet Conference last week than you are probably just coming down off your high. This was the first time in a while that the rooms were full, the traffic lasted all day and people were excited about a strong year ahead.

Skip Labella kicked off the Conference by sharing Closet America’s “Go to Market Strategy” – the room was so full tables needed to be taken out so that we could fit more chairs.

There was a panel discussion that focused on the benefits of Insourcing VS Outsourcing. People left that session with a clear vision of the advantages and disadvantages of both models.

Closet Factory Virginia Beach owner, Jeff Bruzzesi explained how he turned building custom homes into a successful marketing strategy. By creating organization through out the custom homes, clients quickly realized that Jeff could do much more than build closets.  Here are some of the photos.

From the Conference nearly 200 people took a short bus ride to Plus Closets. They showed us the workflow in their shop, how they make drawer boxes and how they ship orders. It was one of the most organized tours that I have ever been on.

As we do every year we ended the day with a Networking Reception. We drank, ate, caught up with old friends and made new ones.

That was just day 1… 🙂

Day 2 didn’t disappoint – The Expo floor was packed with new items. Here are some of my favorites are –

The Boot Butler.  It’s a space saving way to hang your boots. It helps your boots maintain their shape, avoid creases and allows you to easily find the pair you are looking for. This is a cool item that your customers will love.

There was a handbag pull out and a pull out clothing rack for shallow closets, both are made by Glideware. Storing handbags can be a big problem especially if your client is like my wife and collects them… (That’s a topic for another day)  There are solutions for shallow closets, most are not as pretty as Glideware’s. Both options will work great for your high-end customers.

The Expo wasn’t all about accessories – Titus is introducing 5 brand new cam colors. They are designed to match the new textures that are on the market.   I consistently get asked for light gray (silver) and medium brown (warm cherry)  These should be available in 30 days.

Your turn – What were some of your favorite things about the Closet Conference & Expo?

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

For those of you that couldn’t attend, Woodworking Network has many of the presentation slides available on line – Check them out here – 

Be sure to save the date for next year’s Conference in Pasadena – March 22nd – 24th.

See you there!!