Home Show spreads our in new Expo Center

The Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield's 2004 Home Show is set for Feb. 6-8 and it will have a new venue the new Springfield Expo Center with 40,000 square feet of exhibition space.

"It's going to be a great-looking show," said Charlyce Ruth, executive director of the HBA. Because the Expo Center is much larger than University Plaza Trade Center, where the Home Show had been held since 1984, Ruth said HBA will "have the luxury of being able to spread the show out a little bit."

She expects a "sense of grandeur" at this year's show because vendors won't have as many restrictions on what they can do with their booths. The Expo Center has 28-foot ceilings as opposed to 8-foot ceilings in the old facility, and Ruth said vendors will be "allowed to take their booth the next step up and be more creative."

A long-time vendor that plans to have a new display at this year's Home Show is Acme Brick Company, according to Ruth. The company plans to trade its wood-paneled and brick display of the past for a more modern, stainless steel display, she said. Acme also increased its booth size.

John Harp, Acme's architectural and residential sales representative for Springfield, said the company has had a booth at the HBA Home Show since it began as a tabletop event at Battlefield Mall in 1981.

"It's worthwhile to be able to put products and services in front of that many people that are there for a purpose," he said. "Not only do you get leads, but people will come back to you for months even a year."

The event is really an advertising opportunity for vendors, Ruth said, because it allows them to get information to the public about their products. "It helps spread their name in the community," she said. "It lets them talk one-on-one with the public and show them what their product is."

Lesley Gann, owner of Budget Blinds of Southwest Missouri, said the event has been "really good exposure" for them in the four years they've exhibited at the HBA Home Show. According to Gann, the company makes contact with several hundred potential customers at each show. "It's one of the cheapest forms of advertising for us."

The HBA Home Show is a nonselling show, which Ruth said encourages the public to ask more questions and therefore leads to a better-educated consumer. She said she receives phone calls from people who attended an HBA Home Show up to two years earlier and are interested in contacting a vendor.

Gann said her business starts getting phone calls the week after the event from people who attended the Home Show, and calls continue coming in throughout the year.

Gann and other vendors at this year's show are excited about being in a new facility. According to Gann, the Expo Center will give her company a "more professional presence" than they had at previous shows.

Brad Shrock, president of Kitchenland USA, said he's excited about being in a new venue, which he believes will lead to greater attendance.

Last year's show had the second-highest attendance ever, with 13,500, bested only by the 2002 show that attracted 17,000.

Ruth said she expects at least that many this year because, not only will people want to attend the Home Show, they'll also be interested in seeing the Expo Center. "This is an event the public expects to come, and they want to make sure they're able to attend," she said.

There will be at least 220 vendors in this year's home show displaying products including in-home elevators, home entertainment systems, cabinet and bath products, window treatments, landscaping ideas and plumbing products. Vendors will include Realtors, builders, lumber companies, lenders, fence companies and waste haulers.

The new Expo Center allows room for 442 booths compared to 300 booths that were available to the HBA in the past, Ruth said, adding they used to have to turn vendors away because of the lack of space.

Another advantage of the roomier facility is the ability to offer more seminars. There will be 23 (including repeats) on topics such as trends in home and remodeling design, landscaping, selling and buying a home, gas fireplaces and selecting a remodeler.