Attendees applaud high level of retailer-supplier interaction

The Meet the Market program

Rite Aid's Robert Thompson is presented the Pratt Award from NACDS chairman Randy Edeker.

Rite Aid's Ken Martindale (l.) and John Standley (r.) congratulate Thompson on his award.

Albertsons/Safeway's Dan Salemi is interviewed by NACDS-TV.

The Wegmans Food Markets table at Meet the Market

H-E-B's Craig Norman and Dennis Wiesner

The Product Showcase

Newell Rubbermaid's Jerome Brown with Rite Aid's Wilson Lester

NACDS' Randy Edeker (l.) and Steve Anderson (r.) with keynote speaker Tom Brokaw in a dialogue with the NACDS board of directors and suppliers.

The Business Program opening

Tom Brokaw

Jeremy Gosch, Randy Edeker and Jon Wendel of Hy-Vee

At the Hy-Vee table during Meet the Market

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores reported that the consensus of attendees at the 2015 NACDS Total Store Expo is clear: This year’s conference was a rewarding experience.

NACDS said there was a tangible energy reverberating throughout the event, held Aug. 22 to 25 in Denver, where more than 5,600 retailers and suppliers met to check out the latest products, emerging technologies and trends in health and wellness, beauty, pharmacy and other categories.

Feedback from participants was immediate and positive, with participants citing the success of their meetings with the right people and the strategic advantage of being in the same venue with all the relevant players at once, according to NACDS.

To that end, this year’s Expo delivered on goals to facilitate interactions among retailers and suppliers, while highlighting emerging concepts in attractions like Vision 2026, an interactive preview of retail’s future, and the Product Showcase, which provided high visibility for suppliers marketing products to retailers, NACDS said.

“It’s never been more competitive on the retail side and the manufacturing supplier side,” NACDS chairman Randy Edeker, the chairman and CEO of Hy-Vee, said in his opening remarks.

Everything from the packed Insight Sessions — where participants delved into topics ranging from what’s guiding the way Millennials shop to the future of the pharmaceutical market — and the sold-out Exhibit Hall to the popular Meet the Market and Meet the Retailer programs reflected the high level of engagement by attendees and speakers.

Attention now turns to the 2016 NACDS Total Store Expo, which is scheduled to run Aug. 6 to 9 in Boston.

Slideshow photos courtesy of NACDS. Click here to see more scenes from the 2015 Total Store Expo.