The National Association of Floor Covering Distributors (NAFCD) said that beginning in 2006, it will expand its annual meeting to include an exhibit area designed to facilitate more interaction between suppliers and NAFCD members. The first "Distributor Marketplace" is scheduled for October 2006 in conjunction with NAFCD's 35th Annual Meeting in Indian Wells, Calif. .

NAFCD president Scott Hendricks of Central Distributors, Inc., Des Moines, Idaho, said the addition of a show floor at the annual meeting is designed to remedy the lack of one-on-one opportunities at other industry events. He noted that the change may enable manufacturers to scale back on the number of regional trade shows they participate in and give distributors another opportunity to forge closer ties to the manufacturers they deal with.

"The NAFCD Distributor Marketplace focuses on distributor issues, and helps the association continue its mission of fostering trade and commerce for distributor and manufacturing members," said Hendricks. "We wanted to offer something that made selling easier and more efficient for manufacturers, while providing a channel-specific event that better meets the needs of distributors."

The group's up coming meeting, Oct 21-22 in Boca Raton, Fla, is unaffected by the announcement.