Anyone going tomorrow?
Where is the expo located?
It’s in Chantilly, VA.
I see some familiar names. If you get a chance, can you do a post on your impressions when it is over? I am out of the area otherwise I’d be inclined to find this a nice excuse to be out of the office.
The show was dead. I was there both days and never saw more than 50 or so potential customers in the hall at one time. Mostly, it was vendors walking over to other vendors’ booths. TREXPO East has been heading in this direction for years.
H&K wasn’t there. ATK (Federal/Speer) wasn’t there. Glock, Smith, and Beretta all had very small booths with limited product on display; ditto Remington & Winchester. SIG had a big double booth and at least five employees on the floor, but most of the time they were just talking to each other.
I did get to meet Nick & Drake from Magpul. Great guys with obvious enthusiasm and expertise when it comes to their gear and rifles in general. They didn’t even hurt me when, upon handing the Masada/ACR to me, I asked, “So is this the SCAR-L or the SCAR-H?”
I also got to meet Ben Lennett, who was incredibly generous with his knowledge and experience in the industry.
There was a time when TREXPO filled that entire hall. Now it’s less than half filled by vendors, and odds are it will be even smaller. But from the standpoint of seeing all your buddies in the industry, it was excellent.
It sounds similar to the results of TREXPO West, only the East version had some cooler toys. The best thing about TREXPO West was the boxing matches and watching an LASO deputy knock out an FBI agent in about a minute!
Thanks for the update. I suppose Im not surprised to read this as I do know this is a bad time in contract land. There seems to be a fair amount of draw back occurring with customers preparing for the ‘end of the calendar year’. I am hearing about many contracts being shortened in duration. I think a lot of customers may be hunkering down.