Banter on the Baltimore Backer Show

By Carol Boker

Editor in Chief of Pet Product News International and Pet Style News

Everyone looked forward to the spring H.H. Backer show moving from seedy Atlantic City, N.J., to Baltimore, Md. The show took place this past weekend, May 16-19.

When my fellow BowTie editors and sales staff arrived early Friday to hand out magazines, we were greeted with a nice layout in the Baltimore Convention Center, but our first reaction was that it was going to be a small show. We finished handing out the magazines, only to realize that beyond a large seating area there were more rows of exhibitors.

This seemed to be the cry of those on the far section—“no one knows we are here.” The Backer staff did a good job throughout the weekend, making announcements and distributing fliers to lead buyers to the other section.

I heard various pro and con comments throughout the weekend regarding the show. One aquatics exhibitor had written enough orders by Saturday to pay for the show and was looking for “icing on the cake” on Sunday. Another exhibitor, who was in the main section of the show, said the show was not good for him and many others they spoke with. He said some said it was the dates, some said the location, some said the unpreparedness on Backers’ part. He felt it was the basic flop!

I’m sure if I talked to 100 more exhibitors, I would get mixed reactions. From my perspective, Friday seemed slow as far as number of buyers. It was easy to walk the aisles and spend time talking to people at the booths. But on Saturday and Sunday, the show appeared to have many more buyers.

Maybe it will take time for retailers to get used to the new venue; maybe the economy kept people from attending as exhibitors or buyers. I look forward to seeing the numbers of attendees and exhibitors from the Backer staff.

I had an enjoyable show—got to meet new exhibitors, see lots of exciting products for consideration for our upcoming editors’ choice awards, hooked up with some retailers and writers that I don’t often see and gathered some ideas for some future articles for both magazines.

« All Editorial Blogs

 Give us your opinion on
Banter on the Baltimore Backer Show

Industry Professional Site: Comments from non-industry professionals will be removed.

While Atlantic City is "seedy", there were plenty of other locations in the garden state that would have served the purpose. As a New Jersey resident, the Atlantic City show was simply more doable than one in Chicago where I'm in for either a flight or a very long drive. Nicole, Bayonne, NJ Posted: 6/17/2008 10:04:11 PM All this praise for MyDog is great, but what about the show ... I was hoping for some feedback on the show itself. Carol, Irvine, CA Posted: 5/22/2008 8:48:57 AM kevin and steve, i stopped by the my dog booth on saturday and the products looked great. as an retailer looking for unique and well made products i left disappointed that the products were not available yet for purchase. i understand that this is a new line so i will be patient and look forward to carrying the line when available - hopefully asap! alan, boston, MA Posted: 5/21/2008 6:59:17 PM I just read the comments noted by "Steve" and I'm a regional distributor and had a moment to talk to a gentleman by the name of Tom McCann from Mydog, I was very impressed with the line even though it was not available to distribute yet. I tend to agree with the positioning, it's hard to fine new items to create the excitement, value and quality this new brand is bring to the category...well done! Kevin, Hallswoth, TX Posted: 5/21/2008 4:31:31 PM