Last chance for special room rate at Casual Living conference

Casual Living Staff -- Casual Living, 2/6/2012 9:15:00 AM

Today is the last day to qualify for the $200/night special rate at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Fla., for the rapidly approaching Casual Living Conference.
The Feb. 22-24 event kicks off with a TUUCI-sponsored golf outing at the Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club. Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m., the golf outing will take place at the Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club. The price is $125 to play 18 holes, with a $60 club rental fee. Shuttles will leave the hotel for the golf course at 10:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Click here to register for the conference and reserve your spot on the course.
A retail tour of Bacon's Furniture will also take place at 1 p.m. on the 22nd.
The conference's theme - The Sky's the Limit - will examine key opportunities in the outdoor industry, discuss the changing consumer, detail technological trends and zero in on casual's ascendancy in the marketplace.
• You will learn from our keynote speaker, Bob Davies, how to rethink the challenges you face and have specific steps to take to achieve peak performance form yourself and your staff.
• You will discover from nationally known trend expert, Maxine Lauer how to better understand the changing consumer and how by understanding Life Stage Demographics you can help your business attract new consumers at all age levels.
• Your will hear from proven successful retailers, Fortunoff, Outdoor Elegance, City Furniture and HOM what strategies they employ to grow their business during the last few challenging years.
• Confidential information on the latest facts and figures regarding the key drivers in the home furnishings industry such as housing starts and consumer confidence will be shared by Jerry Epperson. This will allow you to know where to look for areas of growth in your local community.
• Understanding how consumers shop online and use social media will be presented by Pew Research which will give you a real-world understanding of these trends and how you can apply them to grow your business using proven tactics.
• Tested social media campaigns will be shared by Gallery Furniture so you can increase your sales per square foot. This information has propelled Gallery Furniture's sales through the roof in the last 18 months of using this technology.
• Personal discussions with industry icons Steve Lowsky (Pride Family Brands), Doug Peppler (Agio), Ashley Nolen (Leader's Casual Furniture) and Petey Fleischut (Casual Marketplace) will tackle some of the industry's challenging issues such as price hikes, tight credit, brick versus click and the future and or necessity of early buys.
• Take advantage of social events, cocktail receptions and the awards dinner) to network and build closer relationships with manufacturers and retailers on ways to collaborate for future success.
• You can learn what new materials for furniture are on the horizon that can fire up your sales.
• Get reliable information from four top retailers - Fruehauf's, Housewarmings Outdoor, Kolo Collection and Bacon's Furniture - as they share how they have padded their profitability form adding new categories to their mix
• Take home your personal list of actionable ideas developed during our wrap up session.
The awards dinner honoring Glen Raven Custom Fabrics as Supplier of the Year and Floridas-based Leader's Casual Furniture as Retailer of the Year round out the event.
To register for the Casual Living Conference, go to http://www.casualliving.com/con2012 (ICFA member retailers enter "ICFA2012" to apply for a $45 discount). For more information, contact Casual Living Executive Editor Nicole Crews at ncrews@casualliving.com or Publisher Norman Hamilton at nhamilton@casualliving.com.
The event is sponsored by Sunbrella, Agio, Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., Treasure Garden, AmericasMart, TUUCI, Pride Family Brands, the International Casual Furnishings Association, Telescope Casual Furniture, Gensun Casual, International Market Centers, Dallas Market Center, Abercrombie Textiles, , Casual Cushion, Windward Design Group, Alfresco Home, Gloster, Lane Venture, Lloyd/Flanders and OW Lee. Sponsorships are still available.