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Eastwood home and garden show attracting serious buyers
NILES
There is a sense that the local economy is improving among exhibitors and visitors at the Mahoning Valley Home and Garden Show in the Eastwood Expo Center at the Eastwood Mall complex this weekend.
The show started Friday and runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. Admission and parking are free.
Everybody who comes through the door — and there have been lots of visitors — seems to be a serious buyer, said Dominic Baragona, president of Mid America Events of Niles, which produced the home show.
Baragona said about 4,000 visitors came through the doors Friday, and by 2 p.m. Saturday, more than 5,000 already had been counted, and he estimated Saturday’s total would reach 9,000.
In the past few annual shows, most people have walked around looking but not doing a lot of buying. However, this year many more are stopping to talk to one or more of the 150 vendors at the show, Baragona said.
One of the serious buyers Saturday was John Blue of Girard, who was at the show with his nephew, Damian Blue.
Blue said he is planning quite a few family home- improvement projects, such as roofing and siding, and he picked up a lot of brochures, got some ideas and even arranged to receive some bids.
John Perry of Poland and Matt Karlovic of Hubbard, sales consultants for CVS Creative Vinyl Systems, said more people at this year’s show are looking seriously.
They are not planning to move, they are planning to improve where they live and are looking for top- quality products for their projects, said Karlovic. CVS has offices in New Castle, Pa., and Salem.
Enchanted Gardens Landscaping of Canfield had one of several landscaping displays at the show.
Business started picking up in 2012, and a lot of people at the show are looking to do something this year, said Mark White, owner and designer for Enchanted Gardens.
“Outdoor living is a huge trend, with projects featuring kitchens with stoves and running water and living rooms with fire- places,” White said. He said patios can range from $5,000 and up. The show display would cost about $30,000, he said.
There also are several stage activities today at the show including how-to-do-it seminars presented by Home Depot at noon and 3:30 p.m., and a live cooking demonstration at 1 p.m. by chefs from the Firebirds Wood Fired Grill in the Eastwood Mall.
From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., people can bring family heirlooms and just old stuff to have auctioneer David Dangerfield discuss the items and appraise their value.
On Saturday at the Home Show’s version of “Antiques Road Show,” some items were worth only a few dollars. But others, such as a Civil War collection, had considerable value.
The Civil War collection of letters, a diary and pictures and sword, could be worth anywhere from $2,000 to $8,000 or $10,000, depending on the contents of the letters and diary, Dangerfield told the owner.