STAUNTON, Va. – The annual Federated-KOI Auto Parts Cavalcade of Customs and Training Expo, held Jan. 9-11 in Cincinnati, Ohio, saw a more than 19 percent increase in attendance from last year’s record crowd.
“The 55th annual Cavalcade of Customs was a big hit with the general public as well as our service technician customers,” said Dave Wesselman, president of KOI Auto Parts. “We offered a little bit of everything from custom cars, hot rods and live music to an extensive lineup of technical training and workshops. We also held a student day that had participation from 12 Cincinnati-area schools. We want to thank all the participating vendors and everyone who came out and enjoyed the show for making this year’s Cavalcade the best ever.”
As part of the vendor trade show, KOI Auto Parts offered 32 types of training workshops for a total of 81 sessions held during the weekend. A record-setting 754 service technicians, shop owners and shop managers attended multiple training classes taught by qualified instructors from Federated/KOI vendor partners.
New for the 2015 Cavalcade, KOI hosted Federated Car Care Program classes, as well as shop management classes presented by Fisher Auto Parts. Before the show officially opened, KOI hosted a Student Day event for more than 320 local vocational school students and their teachers. The students heard from various speakers in the industry and were able to tour the car show before it opened to the public. They also were invited to visit the vendor display area to learn about the various products that KOI sells.
The vendor area was opened up exclusively on Jan. 8 to KOI store managers, regional managers and outside salespeople so key personnel could speak with the 68 participating supplier partners and learn more about their product offerings, and visit the Federated Car Care, KOI Heavy Duty, KOI Tool and KOI TeAch booths.
Longtime Federated spokesman and NASCAR legend Kenny Schrader, and Kevin Byrd, co-host of Two Guys Garage on MAVTV, made special celebrity appearances in several of the training classes and employee meetings, and also signed autographs on the show floor.
