Distributors Impressed By Sustainability, Networking And First-Time Vendors At The PPAI Expo 2025

The PPAI Expo 2025 trade floor has been a bit of blur. Every direction you turn, there are distributors hurrying to their next exhibitor, perhaps coming to terms with the fact that the show is simply too big to process every single supplier and product.

“The show is incredible,” says Gena Mueller, co-owner and vice president of Alabama-based Junior Davis & Associates. “We’ve seen things that we’ve never seen before. It’s a lot of products, but it’s great vendors. We’re able to see a lot of things we normally can’t see. We just want to walk the whole thing.”

The show is great. We’ve seen things that we’ve never seen before. It’s a lot of products, but it’s great vendors.”

Gena Mueller

Co-owner & Vice President, Junior Davis & Associates

For Mueller, the trade floor has been just a part of what makes the Expo experience so important for distributors. It’s also about networking.

“We have vendor meetings that we set up,” Mueller says. “A lot of this experience is about vendor relations.”

That point is echoed by Lynda Stuart of Oklahoma-based Macco Promotions, who is attending The PPAI Expo for the first time and has discovered that it brings a whole new layer to previously formed relationships.

“Our company set up meetings here with the different suppliers we use,” Stuart says. “Being able to have those little discussions about new products from the main suppliers we use face to face is great because I’m a hands-on person.”

Stuart admits, however, that your first time on the trade floor is something you can’t quite prepare for.

“At times it’s been a little overwhelming because it’s a lot of stuff to see,” Stuart says. “It’s amazing how many products are out there and the versatility of all the products.”

Linda Davis of Kaeser & Blair, PPAI 100’s No. 31 distributor, has been coming to The PPAI Expo for years, and she has also been a champion of sustainable products for just as long. She says that this year the product options have finally caught up to her passion for the cause.

“I make a list of certain suppliers that I think might have what I’m looking for to match up with my clients,” Davis says. “My niche is sustainability. There are much more sustainable products now than there used to be.”

Kelly Vandiver, co-owner and president of Junior Davis & Associates, appreciates that PPAI designates a certain area for first-time exhibitors.

The First-time Exhibitors section is great. It’s helpful knowing there’s a place to find vendors we haven’t talked to in past years.”

Kelly Vandiver

Co-owner & President, Junior Davis & Associates

“We specifically try to look for new vendors,” Vandiver says. “The First-time Exhibitors section is great. It’s helpful knowing there’s a place to find vendors we haven’t talked to in past years.”