The retail industry is pushing forward with a conference, aiming to encourage Americans to return to normalcy.

• Despite a decline in attendance and some speakers withdrawing, the National Retail Federation will still hold its largest annual trade show this weekend in New York City.
• The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, another major industry gathering, shifted to a virtual event and issued a warning as Covid cases increased nationwide.
• The Berlin International Film Festival announced that it will hold an in-person event in February.
• Despite a surge in Covid cases, the retail and entertainment industries are making symbolic decisions to encourage consumers to return to normalcy.

On Monday, National Retail Federation President Matt Shay stated that "The Big Show will continue."

Despite the growing number of cancellations among speakers and attendees, the trade group still intends to hold the conference on Friday.

The National Retail Federation will commence its annual conference in New York City this weekend. This is one of several annual events that mark the beginning of a new year in January. However, due to the rise of omicron and the resulting increase in Covid cases, conference planning has become challenging, forcing industries to make difficult decisions.

The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, the Consumer Technology Association's CES 2022, and the movie industry's Berlin International Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival have all decided to hold their events virtually or in person, with varying levels of attendance.

In order to encourage consumers towards more normalcy, businesses have made symbolic decisions, such as keeping their doors open and staffed during the pandemic. Grocers and drugstores have maintained their operations, while movie theaters are attempting to attract audiences again, as some individuals are hesitant to sit near strangers due to the pandemic.

The NRF stated on Friday that this year's convention represents a step forward in the new environment as we transition from pandemic to endemic. Although it may be a bit disorganized, it is a positive step.

The NRF has postponed two major events, including an awards gala and a dinner hosted by its Foundation, until mid-April. The foundation sent personal notes to CEOs and awards recipients on January 6th, announcing the change. Additionally, the foundation has indefinitely postponed a student program that usually takes place during the Big Show and attracts around 800 college-aged attendees for education and networking.

NRF has intensified safety protocols by mandating masks and vaccination proof, distributing N95 masks, and providing at-home Covid test kits.

The Berlin film festival announced stricter rules and no parties for its event.

Dwindling attendance

Over the past week, the U.S. has reported an average of nearly 800,000 cases per day, according to Johns Hopkins University data, which is more than three times the level seen during last winter's previous record. Despite the milder nature of omicron cases compared to previous strains, hospitalizations have been steadily increasing, particularly in the past two weeks.

Despite the decline in expected attendance at NRF's Big Show, Shay from NRF announced on LinkedIn that the conference will still take place. The conference is expected to attract 20,000 attendees and 750 exhibitors, with 40,000 people attending in 2019.

An NRF spokesperson later confirmed that there were 15,000 attendees, two days after the event.

The conference's schedule has undergone significant changes almost daily, with Jessica Alba confirming last Friday that the company's founder and CEO had withdrawn from the lineup, and Saks Chief Executive Marc Metrick backing out earlier this week. Both were scheduled to speak on the main stage at the event.

On Friday, it was announced that CEO Brian Cornell still intends to attend the event, where he will deliver a keynote and receive the trade group's "Visionary" award. Despite this, the company has decided to cut travel for other employees who planned to attend and is exploring virtual participation options.

The session with the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade is no longer on the three-day agenda. Meanwhile, CEOs from , , and have decided not to attend the conference and will conduct their sessions virtually.

Executives from Weight Watchers International, Authentic Brands Group, and Coresight Research are expected to attend in person.

The NRF has not yet provided a virtual option for attendees or speakers who are not scheduled to speak on the main stage at the Javits Center.

On Jan. 6, Phillip Jackson, co-founder of Future Commerce, tweeted that NRF's The Big Show would be similar to The No Show.

The fear is that an event that draws thousands of attendees could become a super spreader event due to the highly contagious nature of omicron. Nearly 70 attendees, including some Samsung executives, have tested positive for coronavirus after CES was held last week in Las Vegas, according to a Reuters report. It is not clear if those attendees contracted Covid while at the tech show or from offsite events, such as dinner at a restaurant.

The Javits Center, the site of the NRF's Big Show, is believed to be the source of the first known instance of omicron spreading within the U.S., as clusters of cases were detected among the approximately 53,000 people gathered there for an anime conference in November.

‘Open for business’

Despite the pandemic, the NRF is proceeding with the conference as numerous retail workers, who earn minimum wage or nearly so, continue to report to work daily at stores and warehouses. In contrast, many of the industry's top executives and corporate employees have been able to work remotely from the safety and comfort of their homes.

According to Stephanie Martz, the chief administrative officer and general counsel of NRF, in an interview on Jan. 5, it is crucial to remember that our frontline retail workers have been working continuously and we have been asking them to come to work and interact with customers.

Vaccines, masks, and other safety precautions have altered the game for both the conference and business operations in general, as she stated.

As the trade association representing retailers, we believe that we should take advantage of our position to say that the economy should be open for business, even though individual companies make their own decisions and we don't fault them if people pull out.

"This is the right moment to reunite in some way, as Martz stated, and it's time to normalize," he added.

Despite the pandemic, Shay from NRF emphasized the significance of keeping businesses running.

Mayor Eric Adams' desire to keep New York City open has encouraged us to proceed with the show, as expressed by Shay in his LinkedIn post. The majority of our members, exhibitors, retailers, partners, and attendees share this sentiment. This year's show represents a step forward and is necessary and meaningful.