From May 2^nd through May 4^th we had the honor of attending and setting up a booth at the New York Metro Abilities Expo at the New Jersey Convention & Expo Center. This event had the largest attendance in the history of the Expo and we are proud to be part of such a positive, uplifting and informative event.

We noticed more professionals attending the Expo to see what is new and noteworthy in their respective fields. We are grateful for this exposure as it helps to get our name out to all those people who can’t attend the show.

Having attended Abilities Expos from San Jose to Boston we have noticed three types of people who visit our booth.

1)      New people who had no idea such bags existed. It is very rewarding to see people discover that there are fashionable and stylish carryall bags designed specifically for wheelchairs, power chairs, scooters and walkers. The newcomers are always eager to enter our drawings for a free bag, test the bags on their own mobility devices and even buy some bags.

2)      We are always happy to see the second category of people, the happy returning customers. It is heart-warming to see prior customers return to the show and make a point to find us and tell us how much they enjoy their bags. A good number of returning customers are eager to see the new bags we have and quite a few purchase 2^nd, 3^rd and even 4^th bags. We are also grateful for these customers as they provide rolling advertisements for our bags and more than a few are stopped at the show and asked where they got their bags. Plus they affirm the value of what we produce – a practical, functional uplifting accessory.

3)      Unfortunately we also have a third category of visitors and these include a small number of unhappy returning customers. We’d love to have nothing but pleasant experiences but there are people who return to our booth with badly damaged bags that have been caught on mobility device lifts and door jams. Obviously they return to find out what can be done about fixing the bag and we do our best to accommodate each customer since they still want one of our bags.

We had a special surprise for this show as we unveiled our brand new Pashmina Scarves/Shawls that complement some of our bags. There is a zebra one to accent all of our zebra stripe and black bags, a hot pink with light pink for bags such as the Charlotte Rose and Paisley Pink, a sophisticated black and silver scarf which blends well with our Black/Silver Metros, a teal and black Pashmina which really works well with our Poppy Punch Caribbean Blue Classic Bags, and a stunning Gold, tan and metallic silver scarf for our leopard and Classic Hazelnut bags.

The scarves sell for an exceptionally low price of $12.50 if you purchase a bag. These Pashmina scarves are not available online and can only be purchased at select trade shows. These scarves are not sold separately as they are intended to be supporting accessories for specific bags.

Again, we had a great time at the Expo and look forward to the next one in Chicago in June.