SOHO Expo 2021 was a huge hit!
We had several first this year that were quite exciting. We started off the weekend with our annual golf tournament. We had the pleasure of having a special guest appear with us: Chris DiMarco, PGA pro. He put on a clinic for our golfers to help them improve their game. Thank you to Bionox for making that special experience happen! 
We also hosted our inaugural SENPA Summit. We spent our Friday education day focusing completely on business education for our retailers. We had sessions designed for owners, managers, and marketing. The response we received from the retailers as well as the exclusive sponsors of the event was incredible. There was overwhelming positive feedback about our keynote speaker, Harold Lloyd, as well as all of our other presenters and panelists. Our keynote speaker, Harold Lloyd said, “Today to be successful you must be an interdependent retailer, not an independent retailer. It’s a misnomer to think that you can do this by yourself.” The importance of this business education for our retailers cannot be understated.
The SENPA staff and Board of Directors always like to make things fun. This year for the President’s Party we had an around the world theme. We had food from 5 different countries at the party and your SENPA team got all dressed up. 
As always, the show floor was a true highlight for the attendees. We had over 1,300 attendees including retailers and suppliers, as well as 47 states represented at the show, setting a new record. Retailers and suppliers connected with one another and the surveys are showing a great ROI for all.
Our attendees, both retailers and exhibitors, had some great feedback to share with us.
“We’ve expanded year after year with this show. The larger shows are becoming less popular so we’re going to focus more attention on the smaller shows. There is no other show that does what SOHO Expo does,” said Kathy Smith of Youtheory.
Delbert Wingert of Kankakee Natural Foods said, “Attending shows has kept us viable and competitive. This was our first time visiting SOHO Expo and it was great to be here.”
Ed Jones, of Nutrition World in Chattanooga said, “SENPA has been a very important part of what I think is the future of independent retailers. If we don’t support each other then we are probably going to be lost. This has pulled together a lot of passionate people like myself in a very organized and friendly manner. I want to endorse & support SENPA for as long as I’m doing what I’m doing.”
We look forward to seeing everyone back again next year! As always, please reach out to the SENPA staff if you have any questions about our upcoming events or the association.
