TRG | The Bottom Line - 2/11

This week marked significant firsts for TRG as we emerge from the two-year Covid/global pandemic fog. All the markers show the world is ready to get out and socialize. TRG booked a full schedule of meetings at the International Builder’s Show (IBS/KBIS) in Orlando this week, an event that drew more than 70,000 attendees. As the senior VP of exhibitions and meetings reported, “The attendance at this year’s show exceeded our expectations.” This analyst also gave the first conference speech since early 2020 this week, a nice shift from the too-many-to-count virtual presentations. Another sign that Wall Street is ready to meet in person, TRG will be hosting institutional investor meetings with Martin Marietta Materials (MLM) in NYC on March 8th, symbolic as MLM was the last in-person investor marketing trip TRG completed heading into the pandemic (last week of February 2020). Finally, as shown by this birds eye view of Nashville’s Antiques & Garden Show, folks are ready to have a little fun, definitively ditching Zoom. In the days leading into the A&G Preview Party this past Thursday, event organizers found themselves scrambling with caterers to adjust for attendance levels exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Perhaps we may be gingerly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Many clearly want to toast and this time, in person.