Luxury Products Group celebrated a year of great growth with its largest-ever Spring Expo held in late January in San Diego.

LPG now has record-setting membership with more than 440 showrooms across the U.S. and Canada. Director Jeff MacDowell added LPG has achieved above-industry growth in sales and overall improvement in rebate performance, while setting new attendance records for the 2020 expo. He added LPG has expanded its marketing platform, which enhances members’ social-media campaigns and offers them options to customize a low-cost communication to the retail and design community. Additionally, LPG has expanded its subcommittees to help curate LPG vendors, services and training programs. A launch date and partners have been announced for the new LPG training portal.

MacDowell added LPG now has become a force in not just showrooms connected with wholesale, but the true designer boutique showrooms that can benefit from what LPG has to offer. He said there is more to come.

“We have an even more aggressive growth campaign planned for this year,” MacDowell said. “We are going to own 

the training initiative for our member showrooms and create something that no other organization has been able to do, in relation to training far beyond product selling. We will help teach creating the experience.” 

Educational sessions were led by industry executives and consultants on topics designed to increase the knowledge and capabilities of showrooms and their partners. Also, small-group roundtable meetings were scheduled that allowed members and vendors to share questions and ideas on a variety of best practices.

Mr. Steam is the winner of the LPG vendor of the year, while Ultra Design Center of Denver is the LPG showroom of the year, and Bain Ultra is the recipient of the booth presentation of the year honor.

“This was the best-attended, most-engaged Luxury Products Group event in its history,” MacDowell praised. “Our members came to the meeting prepared to engage vendors in business planning. I am excited about the future of LPG with our investment in technology and our focus not just on the vendor partners but on creating the best shopping experience for the customers that enter an LPG-supported showroom. There is no better time to be in LPG than right now!”

In other LPG news, KIE Supply’s Amelia Kittson is the recipient of the first LPG-Hawkins scholarship. Launched in 2019, the scholarship is a way to encourage a new generation to become part of the plumbing and lighting industry, and to help businesses successfully remain independent in the future, LPG noted. Kittson grew up in the industry and has worked at KIE either full-time or part-time since the age of 15, and is now pursuing her master’s of business administration at the University of Wisconsin, specializing in supply chain management.