Fresh on the heels of its 20th anniversary celebration at the 2017 United States Vendor Summit, Stampede hosted a two-day Canadian Vendor Summit on October 19-20, 2017 at the Springhill Suites by Marriott Toronto Vaughan that combined the announcement of major new corporate initiatives with focused one-on-one vendor business development meetings, a dealer panel discussion on trends and needs, and a Big Book of AV Tour and Conference Series stop that drew resellers and end-user customers from around the greater Toronto metropolitan area.
“Twenty years ago in 1997, Stampede was formed to bring a new kind of high value added philosophy to distribution,” said Kevin Kelly, Stampede’s president and COO. “Year after year, we have strived to turn this philosophy into a business reality for our vendor partners and the resellers who rely upon Stampede for a complete range of solutions that combine product and systems with ongoing education and training, and a commitment to constantly bring new technologies and products into the solution mix. Our vendor and reseller partners in Canada have experienced first-hand how this philosophy has worked for them, and we look forward to bringing even more value to their 2018 business programs.”
According to Kelly, Stampede’s ongoing success in Canada and around the world is hinged in its ability to create new ways to deliver recurring revenue opportunities for vendors and resellers. With a focused sales team, strategically aligned resources, and the ability to convert emerging trends into new revenue streams, Stampede has expanded from a regional distributor to a global distributor.
Underscoring its commitment to further developing its presence throughout the Canadian market, Kelly today announced the opening a new Canadian headquarters in Bramton, Ontario (5 Intermodal Drive, Unit 3, Brampton, Ontario L6T 5S5) that is four-times the size of the company’s original office with ten-times the inventory space to be better able to meet customer delivery schedules.
The new headquarters features a state-of-the-art LED Solutions Center and a Reseller/Dealer Training Center that is fully equipped to provide training on any subject. In addition, Kelly said that Stampede planned to expand its sales, marketing, and business development teams and add Business Intelligence Units to the company’s capabilities in the region. “The Canadian market deserves the same level of commitment as the United States market and it’s going to get it, beginning immediately and continuing throughout 2018,” he said. “Business development managers, technical sales specialists, strategic account and small account sales managers, and the appointment of a new marketing manager whose entire focus is going to be on enhancing the digital experience for our customers, are planned for our Canadian operations in 2018.”
The 2017 Stampede Canadian Vendor Summit kicked off on October 19 with Stampede providing a recap of 2017 and its initiatives for 2018. After that executive session, they began a series of one-on-one business meetings from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. The day concluded with a networking reception designed to foster greater relationships between vendors and the Stampede Canadian sales team. A dealer panel discussion took place from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on October 20, which was then followed by the Stampede Big Book of AV Tour and Conference Series event, which opened the door to area resellers and their end-user customers.
Looking ahead to 2018, Kelly promised vendors and resellers that Stampede would continue to expand Stampede’s reach into emerging categories that prove to be profitable. Their investment in Drone Video Systems, for example, has increased sales in the commercial markets and has resulted in more add-on AV component purchases. Likewise, since committing to the audio channel in 2016, Stampede has experienced double-digit growth in the category, noting that industry audio practice has evolved so that distributors can successfully build cohesive audio solutions. New categories of significance include educational tech and LED displays.
