The Brief: A Proven Product, A Big Opportunity, A Need for Speed
Zenova came to Lov Retail with a proven fire-suppression product — the FX500 7-in-1 Fire Extinguisher — and a need to break into the U.S. retail market. The FX500 is safe on any type of fire, including lithium battery fires, and designed to be used from any angle. It's portable, versatile, and built for home, car, and RV use. A genuinely differentiated product in a category most consumers don't think about until they need to.
Breaking into U.S. retail meant everything from getting in front of the right buyers, to showing up at industry events, to building the operational infrastructure that serious retail requires. No task too big, no task too small. That's the engagement Zenova needed — and that's the engagement we run.
The FX500 isn't just another fire extinguisher. It's a 7-in-1 solution that handles every fire class a household is likely to encounter — including lithium battery fires, the fastest-growing fire risk in U.S. homes. That's a category story buyers can actually sell, not just a SKU to slot onto a pegboard.
On the Ground at the Disaster Expo
Retail representation isn't a desk job. When Zenova exhibited at the Disaster Expo, Lov Retail was there from setup to breakdown. We handled booth logistics, worked the floor alongside the Zenova team, and engaged directly with attendees and buyers throughout the show.
Then came the live fire demonstration. Ten-foot flames. We grabbed a camera and got as close as the heat would allow. The photos and video we captured became content assets Zenova could use beyond the show floor — proof of the product in action, not just a spec sheet.
"Most agency partners send an email. We grabbed a camera and stood next to a 10-foot wall of fire."
Building the Retail Foundation
Great event coverage is only part of the job. While the expo was happening, we were also building the infrastructure Zenova needed to actually win at retail. That meant sourcing and closing the right distribution partner, identifying the right retail doors, and making sure the product would show up in stores in a way that moves.
Onboarded Zenova with Petra Industries, securing a national distribution partnership
Built out a retail sales channel across half a dozen accounts
Sourced and vetted the right display vendor to produce PDQ tabletop shippers
Brought the display program to the Wheatbelt retailer show in Kansas City
Sold out every PDQ shipper at the show
The Results: Distribution, Doors, and a Sell-Out Show
The Zenova engagement wasn't a single win — it was a stack of wins executed simultaneously. A national distributor onboarded. A retail channel built across half a dozen accounts. A PDQ display program sourced, vetted, and brought to the Wheatbelt retailer show in Kansas City — where every shipper sold out. That's what a retail foundation looks like when it's built right.
Getting a brand into retail isn't one thing. It's dozens of things executed well at the same time: the right distributor, the right display format, the right show, the right content, the right relationships. Lov Retail runs all of it — not as a project manager handing off tasks, but as a partner who's in the room, on the floor, and next to the fire when it counts.
What Every Brand Can Learn From the Zenova Playbook
The Zenova engagement wasn't a single tactic — it was a coordinated field, distribution, and display strategy executed in parallel. The patterns that made it work apply to any brand serious about U.S. retail entry.
Retail representation is a field job, not a desk job. Showing up at the Disaster Expo — setup to breakdown, on the floor, next to the fire — is what real partnership looks like. Brands can tell the difference between an agency that emails and one that shows up.
Content capture is part of the engagement. The photos and video captured at the live fire demo became brand assets Zenova could use long after the show ended. Field presence compounds.
Distribution is the unlock. Without the right national distributor, none of the downstream retail work happens. Securing Petra Industries was the foundation everything else was built on.
The display format has to fit the product. PDQ tabletop shippers were the right call for a portable fire extinguisher — small footprint, high visibility, easy to move inventory. One size never fits all.
Sell-through at a show validates the program. Selling out every shipper at the Wheatbelt show wasn't just revenue — it was proof that the product, the display, and the pitch were working together.
Everything runs in parallel. While the expo was happening, we were building the retail foundation simultaneously. Brands that sequence these workstreams one at a time lose months. We run them together.
No task is too big. No task is too small. If you're ready to get serious about retail, the Retail Readiness Report is where it starts.