MANUFACTURER/RETAILER EXCHANGE
Retailers will have the opportunity to meet more than 100 leading suppliers of energy management, HVAC, refrigeration, design, construction and lighting systems at the 2016 Energy & Store Development Conference.
Suppliers will have the opportunity to get to know supermarket operators and answer their questions about your company and the development of new equipment, products and services. Suppliers with a table in the Manufacturer/Retailer Exchange (MRE) can include table-top displays.
CLICK HERE to review the MRE Guidelines and the type of displays that will be allowed. For a list and description of each supplier company in the MREs, click here.
STORE AND FACILITY TOURS
Wednesday, September 14
NOTE: You must be registered for one of the tours in order to participate.
Engineering Tour: Lake Borgne Surge Barrier
8:00am - 11:00am
Join us for an engineer’s delight! The Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (INHC) Lake Borgne Surge Barrier is the largest design-build civil works project in the history of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The 1.8 mile concrete barrier wall, designed to reduce the risk associated with a storm surge, is located at the confluence of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) and the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), about 12 miles east of downtown New Orleans. It includes a bypass barge gate and a flood control sector gate, each 150 feet wide, at the GIWW; and a 56-foot-wide vertical lift gate at the Bayou Bienvenue.
Our group will visit the Sector Gate portion of the 
barrier, the generator building and the safe-house, and we’ll view vessels as they pass through the channel. The system’s design and equipment will be described, as well as the overall flood protection system and how the barrier system ties in.
NOTE: Attendees of this tour must wear closed-toe shoes and sign a waiver to participate.
SOLD OUT Design Tour: Rouses Market, Whole Foods, and the Lower 9th Ward
8:00am - 12:00pm
Rouses Market: The Rouses in New Orleans’ Warehouse District is so much more than a traditional grocery store – it’s a culinary destination. Rouses’ professional chefs and cooks set out a hot breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. You can get fresh baked pizzas, handmade burritos and tacos, press-to-order Paninis and fresh sushi. There’s also a fresh soup and salad bar, a Chef’s Case with Rouses specialties, and hand-cranked gelato in the Coffee Bar. Local, specialty and international groceries are integrated throughout the store, along with healthy selections chosen by Rouses’ own registered dietitian. No visit to Rouses is complete without a visit to Roots on the Rooftop, 50-plus aeroponic towers on the rooftop of the downtown New Orleans store.
Whole Foods: The Whole Foods Market Arabella Station is one of the top destinations for food lovers in New Orleans. Located on historic Magazine Street, Arabella Station is housed in a renovated streetcar maintenance barn, and is one of the most unique Whole Foods Market stores. Built in 1893, Arabella Station was originally a maintenance barn for electric street cars, and was later converted to a bus storage barn. The building was in a state of extensive disrepair when Whole Foods Market and Sarpy Hixon Development began the renovation in 2001.
Come see how an 1893 street car barn was transformed into a destination for celebrating the sheer love and joy of food. See how Whole Foods Market has continued to live their core values with a sales floor lighting retrofit in 2012, an LED lighting upgrade in 2015, a refrigerant retrofit from R22 to R407A in 2015, a DX to chilled water cooling retrofit on their Seasons 4 in 2016, and an HVAC electric heat to natural gas retrofit in 2016. In 2012, a full store backup generator system was installed to ensure the store can serve the community in rain or shine.
NOTE: Closed toed, nonskid shoes are required for attendees who want to visit the equipment mezzanine.
Lower 9th Ward: Make It Right will provide a walking tour of the Lower 9th Ward, the neighborhood most devastated by Hurricane Katrina ten years ago. See beautiful, affordable, LEED Platinum homes designed by internationally renowned architects like Frank Gehry and Shigeru Ban. Make It Right’s cradle-to-cradle design philosophy and cutting-edge work in sustainable design, construction and solar power has helped train a local workforce in greencollar jobs and positioned New Orleans as a leader in the green economy. The tour will highlight the neighborhood's history, rebuilding progress and what makes this neighborhood “the largest, greenest community of single family homes in the world,” according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
OFF-SITE SOCIAL EVENT
Mardi Gras World
Tuesday, September 13, 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Enjoy a real, behind-the-scenes look at New Orleans Mardi Gras. Take a self-guided tour to see firsthand the hard work behind the breathtaking parade floats for major parades not only for Mardi Gras, but for all over the world. There will be plenty of photo opportunities with the floats. Reception and dinner to follow next door at the Grand Oaks Mansion.
Buses will load starting at 5:30 pm from the 1st Floor Lobby Level, Canal Street exit (near Starbucks). Buses will return to the hotel on a staggered basis starting at 8:00 pm.