By James Wells

SYDNEY: The Narta group is preparing for over 200 delegates to attend its 2007 conference at The Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, which starts on Thursday this week and is titled ‘The New Environment’.

According to Narta managing director, Kay Spencer, the conference will focus on several key themes which correlate with the Narta retailers that have traditionally relied on independent business strategy and management philosophy.

Among the retailers expected to attend the conference will be representatives from Narta members – JB Hi-Fi, Bing Lee, Winning Appliances, Bi-Rite Electrical, David Jones and Clive Peeters.

It will be the first Narta conference for retailers including Soundy’s, Your Electrical Superstore, Morrisons, Wills and Whitford’s of Five Dock.

The conference will also celebrate the establishment of Narta New Zealand, which was officially announced this month.

“San Francisco as a city is ideal for the Narta conference as its consumers are attracted to small manufacturers and not so much the big," explained Spencer.

"There is a real move back from big to small and from mass to quality. San Francisco consumers are moving away from mass merchants as they can’t provide the quality of service or the value that independents can provide. On the surface it is a Californian city, but underneath there is an organic soul which cares about the environment and lifestyle,” she said.