Come together. Think ahead. Rise together.
Once a year, the members and supplier partners of United Buyers Group® spend four days in the same place. All year, you work in your business; the Summit is intentional time away from the day-to-day to think, connect, learn from one another and prepare for what comes next.
What the Buyers University Summit is
The Buyers University Summit is UBG’s annual gathering for members and supplier partners. It runs over four days, it is by invitation only, and it is the Summit of a privileged community: independent members and trusted supplier partners, working together to elevate the industry.
Buyers University is evolving, and the Summit is what it has become: intentional time away from the day-to-day to think, connect, learn from one another and prepare for what comes next. You leave with more than a plan — the energy in the room, the ideas, the people and the conversations are what make it invigorating, encouraging and inspiring. There are offers and new products in the room as well, and they matter, but they are part of the Summit rather than the whole of it.
It is also the fastest way best practice travels in this group. A store owner can ask another store owner how, why and how much, and get an answer with no sales pitch attached. Members bring the reality, partners bring the expertise, and when one contributes, we all rise. Families are welcome too: the event is built so that the people who put their life into these businesses can bring the people they do it for.
Who comes
UBG members
Owners and their teams, from independent specialty stores in hearth, BBQ, patio furniture and outdoor living across the United States and Canada.
Supplier partners, exhibitors and reps
The manufacturers and service providers behind the lines our members carry — in the sessions, on the trade show floor, and in the conversations in between, where they train members on their lines and programs.
Attendance is by invitation. Membership or a supplier partnership with UBG is the way in.
What happens over the four days
Breakout sessions
Around forty sessions, run on the subjects members ask for: operations, margin, selling, hiring, installation, marketing. This is the University in the name, and the program is set in the months before the Summit.
General sessions
The whole group together: a practical look at where the market is heading and what it means for your team, your marketing, your operations, your customer experience and your leadership, alongside the year’s programs, product lines and group priorities. No hype, just what you can use.
Trade show
A show floor of the lines our members actually sell, with the people who make them standing behind the booth — the best stage a partner has to present a company, a team and a product to the members who sell them. Summit-only offers and first looks at what is new live here.
Golf tournament
The Richie Jones Tournament opens the Summit. Longest drive, closest to the pin, and a prize for the best foursome.
Tailgate BBQ, banquet night and the Stampede
A tailgate BBQ on the first full evening, a banquet celebration mid-week, and the Stampede before the closing wrap-up session. Relationships build lasting business, and much of that happens in the corridors, between sessions and over a meal.
Where the UBG programs come to life
The Buyers University Summit is also where our two own brands are in the room rather than on a screen.
Ambiance® — UBG’s privately owned line of fireplaces and grills, designed with the input of more than 100 veteran store owners and installers, available exclusively through the UBG network.
We Love Fire® — the most complete consumer information site in our industry, which sends the homeowners it helps to the UBG member nearest them.
Both come with membership, and both are presented, demonstrated and planned for the coming year at the Summit.
For exhibitors and reps
The Summit is where a partner showcases a company and trains the members who sell its lines, and much of the business gets built in the corridors, between sessions and in the evening. Exhibitors move in and set up the day before the show opens, meet as a group at the Partner Kick Off Meeting, then exhibit through the general sessions and trade show days. Freight, drayage, booth labour, A/V, electrical and extra furnishings are ordered through the event’s exhibitor services portal; sponsorship opportunities, including the golf tournament, are published for each edition.
Exhibitor logistics, booth numbers, deadlines and rates change every year and are published in uHub for each edition.Become a supplier partnerThe next edition
Dates and location for the next Buyers University Summit are announced to members and supplier partners first. If you are a member, watch uHub; if you would like to be one, start here.
Become a MemberRegistration
Registration is handled in uHub, the member platform: one path for members, another for exhibitors and reps.
Not a member or a partner yet? Apply first and we will talk about the next edition.