Retail Industry Professionals to Gather in Las Vegas to Talk Chemicals

Retailers will gather in Las Vegas, Nev., during the Automotive Aftermarket Products Exposition (AAPEX) to discuss market opportunities for the automotive chemical industry during a ‘Retailers Review’ luncheon.
A panel made up of John Lammers, senior director of purchasing for Murray’s Discount Auto Stores, Mark Merritt, merchandise manager of CSK Automotive and Tom Seboldt, senior product manager for O’Reilly Automotive will discuss many different topics November 4. Marketing and sales trends are only two of the topics to be touched on. The panel will also take questions from the audience.
“Being able to have industry leaders in the same room for question and answer periods as well as new product information being discussed is great for all involved, and it helps push our focus to the next level,” says Merritt.
The city that never sleeps, Las Vegas, Nevada will host the annual event. Automotive Specialty Products Alliance (ASPA) will sponsor the event and only ASPA members or invited guests can attend.
Castrol is one of the many member companies that will be in attendance.
“For Castrol, the AAPEX show allows us to feature new products, to renew our relationships with our customers, and to spend a lot of time networking as a team and within the industry,” says Dave Fifield, Vice President Marketing of Castrol Consumers Americas.
This annual get together for industry leaders has a limited seating capacity of only 100 participants. There are a wide variety of products that member participant’s manufacture. A mix of engine coolants, cleaners/degreasers, fuel additives, automotive paints, aerosol cans/components, polishes, solvents, finishes, and lubricants including oils will be shown and discussed.
“We are able to stay in touch with industry trends, learn what our competition is doing, and spend quality time with our industry colleagues,” says Fifield.
ASPA was created in March, 2002 and combines the efforts of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA), the Chemical Specialty Products Association (CSPA) and the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) to form a unified industry voice for members engaged in the automotive chemical and vehicle appearance products market.
“ASPA is dedicated to furthering collaboration among our members to help promote awareness in the industry, without events such as AAPEX, getting out members together can be difficult,” says ASPA projects manager Andy Hackman.
Registration and membership information is available at www.aspalliance.org or by calling 202-833-7327. Tickets are $50 U.S. per person.