Nationwide and MEGA Begin Working as One at First National Planning Meeting
Furniture World News Desk on
11/19/2017
Nationwide Marketing Group and MEGA Group recently announced that they have completed their first combined National Planning Meetings in Winston-Salem as they continue their process of operations consolidation, program enhancement and member services development. Twice each year the leadership and member services teams from the group’s regional divisions Nationwide East, Nationwide Florida, Nationwide Southwest, Nationwide West, United Stores and Canada’s Cantrex Nationwide meet with Nationwide’s national team to review the state of member services and plan the coming PrimeTime member conference.
Tom Hickman and Rick Bellows, who are working on PrimeTIme explained, “We’re about a hundred days away from what promises to be the largest buying show and member conference in the history of independent retailing. At the coming PrimeTime event in Orlando, members’ show specials and Cash Back on-the-spot rebates will really benefit from the savings vendors are enjoying due to only having to support two shows each year instead of four.”
The recent merger of Nationwide Marketing Group and MEGA Group created an organization of some 5300 member companies operating approximately 14,000 stores generating an estimated $18.5 billion in sales. Nationwide’s Dave Bilas added, “As the two groups combine and increase our investments in technology, education, marketing, operations and more, members can expect more initiatives, lower costs and improved delivery of services. In addition, vendors will benefit from more efficient access to the majority North America’s appliance, electronics, furniture, bedding and outdoor Independents via a single point of contact. As a result, Nationwide’s Independents will access advantages that, until now, have only been available to corporate chains.”
The process of integrating the groups’ complementary member services programs is underway and Nationwide’s Member Services leader Frank Sandtner commented, “The number and value of new member service programs from the groups’ combined offerings will enable members to simplify and reduce operating costs. Further, we have rolled out and executed a digital platform that generates awareness, traffic and volume with point-of-sale measurement for participating members.”
As announced, the combined groups are maintaining all existing offices and all team members with plans to invest in additional member support staff as needed. The combined leadership team reports that this merger will optimize support personnel resulting in reduced territory sizes and more time in store with members. The new combined organization fields national and regional support teams throughout North America numbering more than 200, operating from 8 national and regional facilities, plus a group-owned multi-media digital production, education and communications studio. Jerry Honea of MEGA Group commented, “The integration process for the two groups has been underway for weeks and it’s been exciting to see how compatible our cultures are, how complimentary our capabilities are and how quickly our people have engaged with one another. We all understand how much work is ahead, and we’re excited about all of the opportunities for our members.”
More about Nationwide Marketing Group: Nationwide Marketing Group is North America’s largest buying and marketing group for independent appliance, electronics, furniture, bedding and outdoor dealers. It is comprised of some 5300 members, operating approximately 14,000 stores with an estimated $18.5 billion in sales. For more information, contact 336-722-4681 or info@nationwidegroup.org.