(PRESS RELEASE) TAMPA, FL — Continental Buying Group (CBG) recently wrapped its three-day Tampa Experience at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street with strong turnout and enthusiastic feedback from both retailers and exhibitors. The event combined high impact education with curated business programming, headlined by Bethenny Frankel as keynote speaker, with Andie Weinman serving as moderator.
“We created an environment where our members could access programs and information they can put to work right away,” said Matt Tratner, President of CBG. “In Tampa, we brought together experts behind a story-driven, verified-origin natural diamond initiative from Andre Messika Diamonds and GCAL by Sarine, presented the new Ideal Diamonds Collection of top-cut natural stones with real margin opportunity, hosted trend insights from leaders at De Beers and Le Vian, highlighted merchandising and consumer tools from StoneAlgo, and featured data-driven hiring techniques from ExSellerate. Our role is to curate and facilitate content that helps our members tell a stronger story, convert more customers, and run more profitable businesses.”
“The response from our community, exhibitors and retailers alike, was outstanding,” said Joe Murphy, CEO of CBG. “We heard consistent praise about the quality of meetings, the relevance of the content, and the overall satisfaction with how efficiently business got done. That is exactly the experience we aim to deliver at CBG events.”
“The Tampa CBG show was awesome.” Commented Gene Poole of Hudson-Poole Fine Jewelers, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, he continued. “As always, we were able to learn about the happenings within our industry and our world. From social media to tariffs and duties it was eye opening. Also, the energy from my fellow retailers was tremendous. I also like that we are able to restock the pieces of jewelry we have sold since the Vegas show. The sharing of information with each other is priceless!”
Adam Bassalali of Lali Jewels added, “Joe, Andie and now Matt, and the entire CBG team, always put on a great event. You could feel the positive energy in the room. The presentations offered something useful for everyone, retailers and suppliers alike.”
CBG’s next event will be the CBG Miami Experience, held at the JW Marriott Turnberry, 19999 W Country Club Dr, Aventura, FL 33180:
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- Sunday, January 18, 2026 – Exhibitor Setup / Early Registration
- Monday, January 19, 2026 – First Day of Show
- Tuesday, January 20, 2026 – Second Day of Show
- Wednesday, January 21, 2026 – Third and Final Day of Show
Retailers or suppliers interested in membership are encouraged to email Matt Tratner at [email protected].
