Cabinets & Closets Expo: It's Showtime!
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Cabinets & Closets Expo: It's Showtime!The 2013 Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo gets underway this month set against the backdrop of a resurging national economy and massive rebuilding of East Coast communities ravaged by Hurricane Sandy,

The Total Storage Solutions event will bring custom cabinetmakers, closet professionals and other home storage system specialists together in Edison, NJ. They’ll be joined by representatives of wood machinery and supply companies that will display at the Northeast’s first wood products related trade show in more than four years.

Click here for Schedule at a Glance

The Conference Programs

An early-bird Closets Executive Forum & Mixer, presented by the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals and Closets magazine gets the event rolling at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 26. It features a pair of case studies on hiring and firing personnel and preparing a business for sale. An hour-long reception break with appetizers and cash bar is scheduled between the two 90-minute presentations, each by Diana Augspurger and Mike Carson, both past presidents of the ACSP.

The Total Storage Solutions event kicks off Wednesday, Feb. 27 with the Cabinets & Closets Conference at the Sheraton Hotel. The day-long event opens with a general session featuring keynoter Robert Reiss, host of nationally syndicated “CEO Show with Robert Reiss and highlights of new research on the custom cabinet and closet markets presented by Laurel Didier, group publisher of Woodworking Network.

Following the all-delegate general session, the conference program divides into two separate tracks: one tailored for closets firms, the other for custom cabinet professionals. The Closets Conference track will emphasize strategies for increasing sales, including harnessing the power of social media marketing. The Closets Conference is cosponsored by the ACSP and Closets magazine.

The Cabinets Conference is cosponsored by the Cabinet Makers Assn. (CMA) and Custom Woodworking Business (CWB). In addition to presentations on sales and marketing, the conference will include topics on improving manufacturing flow and breaking into commercial woodworking markets.

The Cabinets & Closets Conference will be capped off by a cabinet/closet industry networking reception featuring presentation of the 2013 Top Shelf, Design Portfolio and ACSP Pioneer awards.

The Cabinets & Closets Expo opens at 10:00 a.m. on both Thursday, Feb. 28 and Friday, March 1 at the New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center. It will feature displays from leading suppliers to the industry, plus free how-to demonstrations throughout the two-day expo.

Special features at the Cabinets & Closets Expo include “Food for Thought” breakfasts hosted by Osborne Wood Products, appearances by Corbin Clay, the “wood beetle furniture star,” at Eveready Hardware’s booth each day and an exclusive presentation of new consumer remodeling research by Houzz.com set for 4:00 p.m. Thursday.

Cabinet & Closet Factory Tours

The event concludes Friday, March 1 with a pair of optional round-trip bus tours. The first, an all-day event, visits the factory and showroom of Transform, the New York City showrooms of Häfele America and Closet Factory, plus a stop at the 9/11 Memorial. A four-hour manufacturing plant tour that begins at 1:30 p.m. will visit Canary Closets and Cabinetry and Artisan Custom Interiors, a high-tech custom cabinet operation.

Catch the latest event updates and register at CabinetsandClosetsExpo.com.

Cabinets & Closets Expo: It's Showtime!SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

2013 Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo

4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26: Early-Bird Closets Executive Forum & Mixer, Sheraton Edison Raritan Center, Edison, NJ

8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27: Cabinets & Closets Conference, Sheraton Edison Raritan Center, Edison, NJ

5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27: All-Industry Networking Reception & Awards Presentation, Sheraton Edison Raritan Center, Edison, NJ

10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28: Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo, New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center, Edison, NJ

10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Friday, March 1: Cabinets & Closets Expo, New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center, Edison, NJ

Register and view show updates at CabinetsandClosetsExpo.com

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