The Premier show in Orlando was two weekends ago and by all counts, was well attended. Perhaps some 30,000 crowded into the Orlando Expo Center with rolling carts to snap up bargains, walk through the flea market environment and catch some real deals at the Salon Centric close-out party. For those that call Premier a success, shame shame on you. How is our industry going to grow and prosper in this environment? It’s not.

That’s why TNG Discovery was such a gamble. Some 25 salons and 25 suppliers relaxed at the Four Seasons Dallas Resort & Club for three impactful days. By the end of the event, everyone knew everyone by first name and it was almost like camp letting out with people exchanging business cards and phone numbers. In a speed-dating format, each salon had 20 minutes to learn about  each of the supplier’s offerings and then move on to another table to learn more. In all, salons attended more than 20 meetings. This was intermixed with plenty of food, fun and enjoyment at night, all in a very relaxed inspirational environment.

There were no screaming hairdressers on stage vying for attention. There was no music turned up to 120db so loud that you couldn’t even think. In fact, there was no music. There were no rolling carts although salon owners walked away with plenty of sample bags. There were no lines in the bathrooms, no wristbands, no hand stamps and no eating lunch on the floor. There were no models parading around three-quarters naked with hair that not even E! would show on TV.

TNG Discovery actually treated salon owners as business people and get this, intelligent conversations took place all day long. People actually learned, listened and wrote ideas down. They were intrigued at how simple it was to increase their business, their bottom line and low and behold, sell stuff they never thought of selling before.

But the real gamble was this: Were salon owners ready for an event of this caliber? Would they demand platform artists and models? Would they demand to buy goods onsite? Could they be in one room all day long?

The answer was self-evident from the moment the program started. It was eerily magical. It was truly a discovery.

Listen, the Four Seasons is the Four Seasons for a reason. Those that want the absolute best do business with them. We were surrounded by many other groups yet they performed flawlessly. And TNG is TNG for a reason. It is now readily apparent that trade shows are done for us and we will focus on those salons and spas that love doing business the way business should be done. Wow, what a concept.

Follows is a short recap video taken at TNG Discovery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxw6VHcPo8U

Happy Wednesday!

New Year’s Eve is in two days, wasn’t it just New Year’s Day 2010? I’m celebrating by having a few friends come over for dinner and watch the Time’s Square ball drop at midnight. That is of course I can stay up that long!

Do you know why it’s called Times Square? In 1904, the New York Times opened their new offices and pleaded with New York to change the name from Longacre Square to Times Square.

What are you doing for New Year’s Eve? Most likely eating. Favorite foods include crab legs, lobster, steak and shrimp.

I’m not sure what I’m going to remember about 2010 five years from now. There were plenty of disasters, a sick economy getting better, the rebirth of GM and Chrysler, the Spartans winning the national championship, OPI and Essie being sold, and the end of the occupation of Iraq.

Gas is $3.18 a gallon and going up even more. Isn’t it strange that the media isn’t commenting on this like the first time it surged past the $3 a gallon mark? I know GM with its Volt and Ford with its Fiesta is smiling all the way to the bank.

Did you make your New Year’s resolutions yet? Forget it, 95% of them are broken after the first week.

What were your favorite new products introduced in 2010? For sure the iPad is #1 followed by the iPhone 4. I can’t recall any beverages that got hot like Red Bull or Vitamin Water in years past.

It appears credit cards will be the next item to disappear. Smart phones will have all the credit card info and you will line up the smart phone at the cash wrap to pay for transactions. No signature required.

I read that the next technology to hit ereaders will be paper. Paper is the perfect medium for electromagnetic particles that when configured a certain way, appears just like ink on paper. And like paper, the reader can be rolled up and once used, can even be disposed of. Apparently this is 3-5 years out.

2011 will be another interesting year. Growth will continue in third world countries (Vietnam for example is booming); Europe will still be constrained by its debt while the U.S. will continue its recovery. Unfortunately, housing will remain weak and unemployment will most likely stay above 9%. With commodities at all time highs, and continuing higher, one wonders if and when prices will start to go up. Pressures to keep prices down and increased productivity will remain powerful incentives to keep prices in line. At the salon and spa level, look for more of the same. Hospitality will see more occupancy at the higher end properties as businesses open their purse strings to more travel and events.

TNG is ready to rock in 2011. thebeautybook Spring 2011 edition and The Industry Source magazine are both in the mail and we have plenty of new initiatives ready to go. One of the most exciting ones is our new capability to customize and fill 8 oz. and 16 oz. bottles for the salon/spa/hospitality industry. Another exciting area is the launch of black 15in1 which has had numerous press mentions from its celebrity launch event. Also, we just updated theindustrysource.com to show real time inventory so when customers order online they will now see stock on hand.

And last but not least, thanks for being part of my blog in 2010. I’m excited to launch the video blog in 2011 and have some fun with technology. Have a safe, healthy, and successful 2011.

Happy New Year!

Our first major event in TEXAS is coming to Dallas Sunday, January 23 at the historic Granada theater. FRINGE is about food, fun and fashion and will highlight the best guest artists from Davines, Michael O’Rourke (Michael himself will be on stage!), Kemon, Joico and more.

Tickets go on sale December 1. This amazing event inclusive of everything is only $25; $50 VIP includes preferred seating, valet parking and a couple other surprises.

More information on FRINGE will be on our website, tngworldwide.com, towards the end of November. In the meantime, if you are going to be in the Dallas area, save the date. This is going to be one no-miss event!

Happy Thursday!

After signing the deal with J.D. Wright, owner of Salon Source, it was a whirlwind tour of Houston, Ft. Worth and Dallas.

Houston is home to Salon Source (SS) where I got to meet most of the SS employees at our inaugural announcement meeting. Cleverly, J.D. had everyone, including himself, don MSU shirts with “Rebels 2010” on the back. In the background Jimmy Buffett was playing “Margaretville.” It was a class act all the way and luckily MSU beat Notre Dame.

[Good thing JD went into beauty supplies instead of modeling!]

Afterwards, I took everyone to a celebration dinner at Pappadeux which seems to own the Houston restaurant scene. J.D. even bought a bottle of Dom for the occasion.

[J.D. was still upset over the $20 corkage fee]

The next day I visited the Houston store and met up with Richard, the store manager. Rich is quite the hoot and knew his stuff. It was then off to Dallas and Ft. Worth (about 5 hours away from Houston, 40 minutes via Southwest).

Ft. Worth is about an hour from Dallas and is quite the impressive city. I met up with Tonya, the Ft. Worth store manager and she shared her insight. Like all of Texas, people are starving for personalized service and she was so happy to be part of TNG.

Dallas is a sprawling city (third largest in Texas) and I visited the one store on the outer edge. The store manager, Will, was on top of his game with over 30 years experience. This location will serve as our Dallas Academy.

I met up with a few salon owners in the stores and they too were geeked about what was coming their way. Texas is the land of opportunity and it was quite evident during my short visit.

J.D. and I are both very excited and look forward to bringing the TNG world to Texas. I may even have to buy me a pickup truck and start eating donuts and barbeque! Or better  yet, bring a little Michigan down to Texas.

Happy Wednesday!

Someone once said you either move onward or downward. I prefer to move onward and in one of the biggest moves in TNG’s 26 year history, we are moving into TEXAS in a real TEXAN way: Big time.

Here is an excerpt of the press release sent to media and trade publications. Now you know why news is instant these days!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TNG Worldwide announces acquisition of Salon Source, Houston, TX
TNG Worldwide announces opening of new distribution center in Dallas, TX

Farmington Hills, Michigan/USA- September 20, 2010

TNG Worldwide has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Salon Source, a full-service beauty distributor based in Houston, TX. The acquisition will be effective October 26, 2010.

“Texas boasts three of the top ten cities in the USA and continues to attract people. Texas is underserved when it comes to professional beauty distribution and we are excited to do in Texas what we accomplished in Michigan,” states Larry Gaynor, President & CEO, TNG Worldwide.

Texas has approximately 27,000 salons servicing its population of 24 million. Salon Source has store locations in Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth and Houston. “This is an extremely good fit between companies and I’m excited to continue to grow the Texas marketplace with TNG’s immense resources and dedication to its customers” comments J.D. Wright, Founder of Salon Source, who will stay on as VP of the Texas division.

To accommodate the growth, TNG is opening a new 30,000 sq. ft. distribution center in Coppell, TX, a Dallas suburb. “We will have everything in place for our opening November 1,” states Gaye Wanner, VP Logistics, TNG Worldwide.

In addition to the brands Salon Source sells, TNG will add many of its Michigan brands to the fold. “This is a very exciting time for our employees, our customers and suppliers,” adds Gaynor.

Happy Monday!

It’s official: TNG Worldwide is opening up its third distribution center in Coppell, TX, a Dallas suburb.

Gaye Wanner, VP of Logistics, has visited the site and is excited as punch. “It’s perfect for us. The space is already built out, they are adding a couple extra offices and it is located in a great area.”

Opening date is set for November 1. When Ted Eisenhut, VP of Purchasing, was asked if his team was ready for Texas he quipped. “This team is used to ordering for four DC’s so this shouldn’t be an issue. They are ready to provide the same stock levels in Dallas as LA and Detroit.”

Texas boasts four of the top 10 cities in the USA and is the only state to add population growth. The key markets are Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin and San Antonio. Initially, the DC will ship inclusively throughout the state. “As we get inventory and movement under control, we will add a couple more states,” added Wanner.

The Texas DC will stock all thebeautybook products with the exception of Hospitality and furniture. This will help transition the opening.

Shawn Peralta, CFO, added “This will add tremendous growth to TNG and gives our growing customer base in Texas next day service. We are very excited for our customers.”

TNG  will operate the largest distribution center in Texas and offer beauty professionals the largest selection and quantity of products. Both its competitors operate franchise locations and ship from their store locations.

This is going to be fun.

Happy Thursday!

TNG has been selling nail products for more than 26 years. For us, it started with a “honey tip” brush. I will never forget a nail tech coming into my store and asking me for this brush. I asked her, “Why would you want honey on the tip of it?” She laughed and told me it was a brush made by Creative Nail Design.

The things you learn in business. Solarnail was the rage and invented by Dr. Nordstrom who was Jan Arnold’s (co-founder) and Jim Nordstrom’s (co-founder) father. Nordstrom was a dentist and figured out dental products could be used on nails. And voila, acrylics and Creative Nail Design were born.

This new category was hot, hot, hot. This spawned new companies overnight including the now infamous Odontorium Products, Inc. known as OPI started by George Schaeffer in 1981. Schaeffer’s family was in the dental supply business and coincidentally, discovered the same thing about dental products being able to be used on nails.

Everyone wanted in. Larry Gaertner went from collecting guns to making No Lift Primer. Jack Sperling rode the wave with Alpha 9 and his trade show had no less than 100 acrylic companies hawking powders and liquids.

Then came odorless acrylics. Frank and Laura DeSantis’s Aqua Nails was the rage. Both CND and OPI came out with their formulas but the stickiness and application issues were too much to overcome.

Fast forward to 2010 and CND has once again invented a new category: Gel polish. President John Heffner claims CND spent over 4 years on product development and wanted it just right. Prior to introduction they did a dog and pony show with their top USA distributors to get opening order ideas and launched internationally.

Based on their data they came up with a plan and then tripled it. Little did they know what was in store. “It totally blindsided us,” quips Jacquie Johnson, VP of Sales. “Not even Larry could predict this overnight sensation.”

OK, I will admit I was hesitant due to the economy, price and prior launches. But in 26 years, I have never seen anything like Shellac.

Now that we have the new category, here is what I don’t get. How did so many companies come up with their own version in less than a couple months when it took CND over 4 years? How does Danny Hale’s Gelish have 48 colors with zero R&D and how does Jessica have 36 colors overnight?

Rick Slack, President of NSI, gave me a call and told me his new line coming out in October has been in R&D for quite a while. At least NSI has R&D. NSI’s line will sport 24 colors in 1/2 oz. bottles for a great price.

American International’s IBD and China Glaze are coming out as well this fall and they certainly have the resources behind them. But I’m seeing companies come out of the woodwork with 24, 36, 48 and even more colors. The question is, none of these companies have a chemist on staff, none have a working lab and all are outsourcing. How can they all be doing this at the same time?

Ah, the acrylic days are back. When Kym Lee, a nail tech in Southern California can launch a line called Galaxy while doing nails at her salon, you know anything is possible. Kym was a great gal and was in the right place at the right time. But now?

I wonder. Shellac has the name, the PR, the formulation. What they don’t have is stock. I was told we will receive some early next week and most orders will be fully caught up by late September. CND’s arch rivals are salivating. But in the end who will survive?

And what will the fate of the nail polish industry be?Women who have been accustomed to choosing from among 300 colors are tickled pink to find any Shellac color and wear it.

But the biggest question is what is George Schaeffer coming up with? OPI owns the color category and the one thing I know about George is this: Not only will he come out with a winning product, he will have plenty of inventory.

Game on. In the end, it will just like 1985 again, CND and OPI.

Happy Thursday!

Monday was a very special day and night indeed. It’s the day Michael and his COO, Nicole, came to TNG and The Academy and set a new direction for education, products, inspiration and down-to-earth fun.

During the day, Michael’s sold out cutting class was filled with awe-inspired hairdressers. Many commented they learned more in this class than any other. They loved the energy, commitment and devotion Michael shared. It was great to see.

Day followed night with the sold out launch party. Instead of 3 models as originally planned, Michael did 6 models while keeping the audience glued to the stage. Nicole made sure the music was in gear and Michael’s high energy carried him throughout the night.

Here are some photo highlights:

All in all, it was a great success. We are now getting ready for the Label.m launch party and Tiffany featuring DREAMS event October 3 at Andiamo showplace in Warren.

Happy Wednesday!

I admit it. The pace of business, technology and complexity has taken us away from the three basic premises of what we need to do best:
1. Take an order
2. Ship an order
3. Get paid for an order

While the basic premises are so simple, execution is not. We get wrapped up with “solutions” that give us “outs” but more times than not, do not address the core. For instance, let’s take the process of taking an order. Getting put on hold for minutes waiting to speak to a live person has become so common, why focus on expediting the wait period? In fact, we hired a third-party provider to answer our calls after 60 to enhance our service levels. While this alleviated long wait periods, the level of service from our third-party provider was below standards.

Getting back to the gold standard is what TNG  used to do: Answer the phone in 3 rings or less. In an era where customer service continues to decline and more consumers are up in arms over this issue, and companies must control costs to stay in business, this gold standard is difficult to accomplish. But if we are going to deliver on our mission of 100% Customer Success, it’s time to try.

We tossed out our third-party provider and are hiring additional talent. We will achieve our objective and while there will be occasional lapses, the level of service for this basic premise will be world class.

The second premise, ship an order, we do quite well. But it’s not the gold standard. While we invested more than $4 million into SAP since October 2008, only now are we getting to a point where the data is being transformed properly. We still need another 12-18 months. But we now have an effective VP of Purchasing that is closing the gap quickly and positive changes will take place.

If there is one thing every person at TNG knows about me, it’s that I despise being out of stock. Yes, there are times that key suppliers (CND Shellac in this instance) are out of stock and there is nothing we can do. And while we may be in stock 99% of our top 200 items and 97% of everything else, we need to be better. And we will be.

The gold standard is that our customers place an order and that the order ships complete and arrives perfectly intact. This is world class and this is what TNG is known for. We will not disappoint.

The third premise is one that we have refined well and will continue to assist our customers through the “cloud” movement. TNG was first to eliminate shipping C.O.D. (and saving our customers $10.95 per order). TNG was first to use ACH payment (and saving even more fees). TNG was first to send invoices and shipping notifications electronically. When it comes to shipping and payment fees, I can say we are the best in class and will continue to maintain the gold standard and improve yet even more.

I admit it. Our team of over 200 TNG talent admit it too. There is no team more dedicated and focused on achieving the gold standard. The past 25 years has been quite a ride; we are focused like never before on the next 25 years. Thank you for your understanding and partnership as we get back to the gold standard.

One of the questions in Gallup Organization’s customer engagement survey (AKA CE11) is “Can you imagine a world without?”

When Gallup sent out the survey on our behalf, our customers had to answer the question “Can you imagine a world without TNG.”

When I address a group of people with this question, I typically get the following companies mentioned:

• Apple
• Nike
• Coke
• Costco
• Walmart

Let’s take Apple for instance. If Apple vanished tomorrow, what would Apple users do? How has Apple shaped its customers lives and how much does its customers depend on the company each day?

Yet while Apple is now the biggest tech company value wise, it is getting thumbs down on several issues, recently its antenna problem with its new iPhone 4. Also, people are yapping that Apple is too big to care about its customers like it used to when it was much smaller and that Apple is too corporate. Steve Jobs in fact will address the antenna issue Friday; it will be interesting to get his take on this.

But what if Apple said we did our thing and we are retiring? What if Walmart said they want to be the new high price leader? What if Nike said watching TV is healthier than running so who needs athletic shoes? Can you imagine a Coke drinker drinking Pepsi?

What companies come to mind that you could not live without? I would bet the list would be less than five.

What does it take to be a company people can’t life without? Plenty. I will be talking more about that tomorrow.

In the meantime, TNG has ranked in the top 95th percentile with your customers as it pertains to that question. For that, we are quite proud. As we continue to rock and roll (remember Grand Funk Railroad?), we hope that you could not imagine a world without us.

Happy Thursday!