Welcome to the Hardscapes and GIE Expo
(Leave your pressed pants at home)

Louisville, Kentucky.
500,000 sq. ft. of products indoors.
19 acres of outdoor demos and test-driving.
20,000 participants.
750 exhibiting companies.
All for landscape and hardscape contractors and dealers.

…Not your typical khaki pants and pressed-collar tradeshow.

After recently attending the Hardscapes of North America and Green Industry & Equipment Expo, I have the following response: That was a whole lot of fun. What could be better than a whole show of guy’s guys working with stone and machinery? Grrr.

Now this is not to portray these guys in a condescending manner. To be honest, if the doors of their business are still open, the owners must be making some smart business decisions. Disposable income is a thing of the past for most, and homeowners are constantly barraged with new upgrade ideas for increased curb appeal, greater energy efficiency and more. The result? Hardscape professionals are competing for a shrinking pot of home improvement funds all the time. These guys are not at the show just looking at products and equipment; they’re looking for partners to support and grow their business.

This is the real thing. These guys go to the show in proud crew packs of matching shirts and coats. The decision makers here are not just the business owners, but the callous-handed front line who are doing the hard labor. It’s a special day to step away, catch their breath and try out new state-of-the art products, tools and equipment. All the big players are there. And so are the component manufacturers — names like Briggs and Stratton and Kohler Engines — building brand equity around innovation, code education and making strides in fuel efficiency.

So where does the brand equity come from? The leaders know it means showing a commitment to every segment of the channel. The contractor/business owner is central to business-level decisions. We heard from many attendees that hardscapes provider Belgard is the leader for this very reason. A paver is a paver is a paver, but suddenly that paver looks pretty great when it is represented beautifully in collateral that is plentiful, training that is extensive and even financial support to help with cash flow. And the energy of the sales team in the booth interacting with the customers embodied the spirit of connectedness they have with contractors in the field. The Belgard sales team members are extremely knowledgeable and will do anything that needs to be done for their customers, but they also know how to have fun. That goes a long way with their customers, who actually look forward to seeing their reps.

The most successful manufacturers at the show were not afraid to get their hands dirty — offering a commitment to their customers through not just product offering but additional business building assets. If you’ve built a business that competes on product alone, well, the grass may look a little greener elsewhere.