Appointments are entirely driven by retailer selections. Once brands are contracted, retailers log into our online portal, ConnectApp, to select the brands they’d like to meet with at Connect.

The Grassroots office schedules appointments based on:

• Private appointments: Prioritized where possible (1 retailer per appointment).

• Consistent flow: Balancing busy and downtime across the event.

• Regional grouping: Retailers in group appointments are often scheduled by region for efficiency.

• Draft schedules: Available in the ConnectApp about eight weeks before Connect. Retailers and brands are notified and can request changes or additional appointments for 10 days.

• Final schedules: Published 4–6 weeks prior to Connect. After final publication, further changes are not handled through the Grassroots office, but can be coordinated directly between retailers and brands.

Brands select which categories they will offer for appointments during contracting. 

We offer the following standardized category selections for ease of use and search-ability for the buyer. Additionally, many of our businesses organize buying staff by similar categories (hardgoods buyer, men's apparel, women's apparel etc).

Current category selections are:

• Business Meeting: Required for all brands, covering topics like sales/brand performance, marketing, or account openings.

• Line Showings: Hardgoods, Accessories, Men’s/Women’s/Youth Apparel, Footwear, Socks, Snow (fall only), and Swim (spring only).

• Business Meetings: Always private (retailer, brand leadership, and sales reps).

• Line Showings: Can be private or group, depending on demand. Group appointments include retailers from the same region to streamline discussions and foster collaboration.

Appointment lengths are determined by brands during contracting and range from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

• Retail Buyers/Owners: Retailers may attend appointments alone or with team members. Multiple buyers from the same team, who plan to meet with a brand together, must coordinate availability during the request phase.

• Sales Reps: Sales reps present product line showing appointments to buyers.

• Brand Sales Managers: Brands have sales managers present in their booth to meet with retailers for business meetings, as well as, conduct some line showing appointments.

• Brand Leadership: Often present for Business Meeting appointments and might include marketing, executive leadership, or other brand personnel.

  • Pre-show, Grassroots staff provides best practices for prepping for and utilizing Business Meetings at Connect.