Despite the recent cool weather, spring is here. There is no surer sign than the annual Chatham-Kent Spring Home Show.
The event, which takes place Friday to Sunday at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre, will again feature about 130 exhibitors.
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While the number of exhibitors remains pretty standard, Stuart Galloway, owner of 20/20 Productions, the company that organizes and runs the event, said there is always something new each year.
“We can’t really grow much more. But it’s always evolving. There are always new people coming in,” he said. “We probably have about 35 per cent new exhibitors each year. It’s always fresh.”
Galloway’s operation took over the home show about seven years ago, he said, after striking a deal with John Cryderman, who used to run the event.
“It’s worked out well. We love being in Chatham,” Galloway said. “We get great support from the exhibit side and from the attending side.”
Just as the exhibitors change to some extent annually, so too does the needs of the patrons.
“Your renovation needs are always changing,” Galloway said. “Usually, people don’t do it all at once.”
The show offers the opportunity for a form of one-stop shopping as well, with various companies under one roof, all very accessible to the public.
“When you put that many competitors together, the consumer always wins,” Galloway said.
He added the show easily allows people looking to renovate or have yard work done gain access to businesses to schedule work before their calendars fill up.
“They can usually get to the businesses that haven’t booked for their full year yet. It’s a great time to go and book your jobs,” he said.
Galloway said Mother Nature threw us all a curve ball this year, but the calendar does indeed tell us it’s spring.
“I think everybody thought spring was here,” he said of the unseasonably warm weather in January and February. “And summer was going to be in March. The weather has a fun way of getting back at us after we were getting spoiled.”
The Home Show is slotted in as the first such show of the season in Southwestern Ontario, Galloway said, by choice.
“It gets people a little bit excited. They think, ‘The show’s here and maybe we should start thinking of what we need in the backyard,’” Galloway said.
The Spring Home Show is only one of 20/20’s events. They started with the Windsor Home Show in 1992, Galloway said. Since that time, they’ve expanded, including here in Chatham-Kent. The C-K Farm Show, another 20/20 event, recently enjoyed its fifth show.
One thing that didn’t work for 20/20 here was a Boat/RV Show.
“The building didn’t have enough space. Boats and RVs take up a lot of room,” Galloway said.
The Spring Home Show runs Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission is $5. Children under the age of 16 are free when accompanied by an adult.
