“Members of the generation known as Gen Z are peer-influenced, anxious, and they read your reviews,” said Beth Chapman, the featured speaker at this year’s annual meeting of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists (AWGS). Chapman, who is a luxury bridal shop owner, bridal consultant, and founder of The White Dress Society of bridal shop owners, added, “Gen Zers value authenticity, and you need to show them your process, too, if you want to sell to them.”
Other speakers at the meeting hosted by AWGS member Classic Cleaners in Indianapolis were Nina Addeo of I Do Weddings and Kristina Stubblefield of So In Media.
A highlight of the meeting was the presentation of the fifteenth annual Jack Barth Memorial Award of Excellence. Initiated by Linda Stokes-Barth in remembrance of her late husband and his achievements in the drycleaning industry, the award recognizes an AWGS member for advancement, promotion, and development of industry standards for wedding gown care as well as for outstanding contributions and service to the Association and its members.
This year the award was presented to Rogers Conant in memoriam by the association’s immediate past president, Kermit Engh of Methods for Management International. Conant, founder of Orange Restoration Labs in Connecticut in 1991, became the association’s director of membership in 1996 when there were about 30 members of the association, and all, with the exception of two Canadians, were Americans.
Today, there are over 100 members represented in more than 500 cities around the world. Conant also established the practice of meeting in a different city each year and representing the association at the biennial Clean shows. He negotiated vendor listings, too, for all members on the top two American and top two Australian wedding websites and developed a membership package for new members that included a handbook with the association’s special formulas and standard practices.
Other speakers at the event included AWGS members Engh, Nadine Rana of Style and Grace Cleaners in Toronto, Ontario, and Jan Barlow of Jan’s Professional Dry Cleaners in Flint, MI.
President Kyle Matthews of Janet Davis Cleaners in Berkley, MI, presided over the installation of new officers who include: vice president Barlow, secretary-treasurer Ben Feingold of Fabricare Center in Atlanta, GA, and Australian representative Stuart Odermatt of Leon’s Fine Dry Cleaning in East Brisbane, Queensland. Malcolm MacGregor of Brown’s Cleaners in Ottawa, Ontario, is chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.