Most distributors don’t run a press. But every hoodie, tote and tumbler sold gets decorated by somebody, and distributors who understand that side of the business tend to close more deals than the ones relying on a spec sheet.

PRINTING United Expo runs from Sept. 23 to 25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center this year.

That knowledge matters more this year. The promotional products industry has held up through five decades of economic downturns, and a distributor with modest revenue can absorb a significant sales drop and still turn a profit. That cushion grows for distributors equipped to talk clients through leaner budgets instead of simply cutting price.

If PRINTING United Expo has never felt like your show, this is the year to reconsider. There will be more than 750 exhibitors displaying equipment, supplies and services across a 1 million square-foot floor Sept. 23 to 25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Here’s what distributors stand to gain:

1. The technology behind everything you sell
   Apparel decoration – DTF, embroidery, screen print, sublimation, laser engraving – has its own zone, but the floor also covers wide-format printing, signage and packaging. Distributors who sell signs, banners and displays alongside promo items get to see how those are made too.
   
   
2. A dedicated space built for the promo side of the business
   The ASI Show Pavilion, embedded inside PRINTING United Expo as a show within a show, brings ASI-network suppliers together in one section, with its own education sessions on new products, sustainability and AI aimed at distributors specifically.
   
   
3. New products before they hit a supplier’s catalog
   Hundreds of items launch on the show floor each year – new materials, new categories, new takes on old promo standbys – and seeing them first means having something fresh to pitch a client before every other distributor does.
   
   
4. A course built for people new to print
   iLEARNING+’s new “Promo Products Essentials” helps distributors understand the category well enough to quote and advise clients confidently, without operating the equipment themselves. For those who want to go further, the platform also offers Print 101, Wide-Format Printing Essentials, Screen-Printing Basics for Apparel and Getting Started With Signage.
   
   
5. A real explanation of what’s happening with tariffs
   Because promo often relies on imported goods, the Alliance’s government affairs team is addressing what’s changed under IEEPA, Section 301 and Section 232 – and what that means for supplier costs, and eventually, pricing.
   
   
6. A floor full of potential new production partners
   Every distributor eventually needs backup capacity, or a supplier that can do something the usual one can’t, and three days of sessions, receptions and hallway conversations turn up more of those connections than a year of cold calls.
   
   
7. A preview of where suppliers are heading with AI
   The AI Pavilion’s focus this year is implementation rather than speculation – what decorators and manufacturers are actually doing with the technology, and what that could mean for turnaround times and pricing down the line.
   
   
8. Answers to sustainability questions clients are asking
   Extended Producer Responsibility laws are reshaping packaging, textiles and materials decisions industry-wide, and distributors sourcing decorated goods will want an answer ready before a client asks.
   
   
9. Fluency in the vocabulary
   MOQs, net pricing and the distinctions between supplier, end-buyer and end-user come up constantly on the show floor – and distributors who already speak the language tend to get quoted faster and taken more seriously.
   
   
10. The relationships
    Meeting the people actually producing a product, rather than only their sales representatives, tends to matter more than it should – particularly when a rush order needs a favor.

Register for PRINTING United Expo here, and learn more about the ASI Show Pavilion here.

Print & Promo Marketing is your source for news, commentary and strategy for the promotional products, commercial print and product decoration industries.