Gimmicks draw people to Home Show

By KEVIN SWEENEY

Journal Editor

NEW ULM -- New Ulm's Home and Self Improvement Show drew a large and steady crowd of people Saturday, most of them looking for nothing in particular, other than ideas.

Exhibitors at the show have ideas aplenty, and are hoping that the people walking by their booths will stop by long enough to take a second look and let the idea sink in.

There are exhibitors who will sell you a house and some who will build you a new one. If you already have a house, there are exhibitors who will replace your siding, roof, windows, plumbing or furnace.

There are exhibitors who will landscape your yard, some who will make your lawn lush and green, and others who will sell you the equipment to mow it. Some will put a fence around it, or, if you don't like a fence, some who will sell you an invisible fence guaranteed to keep your dog in the yard.

There are exhibitors who will help you remodel, redecorate and refurnish your home. Some will put up new cupboards for your kitchen, others will sell you things to put inside those cupboards. You can buy water softeners, and pots and pans guaranteed to cook without water.

So much to see, and so little time. Most visitors adopt a slow strolling pace that carries them down the aisles long enough to glance over one exhibit, then look over to the other side of the aisle.

Exhibitors employ a variety of tactics and gimmicks to get people to stop and take a longer look. The top tactic is the free giveaway. Offer people a chance to win a prize or some free service, and they'll stop long enough to put their name, address and phone number on a slip of paper.

Giveaways and free samples are popular -- a pencil here, a writing pad there, key chains, balloons, candy, cheese. Some people come out with a bag full of things they collected from exhibitors.

But advances in technology make a difference, too. Many exhibitors use videotapes and large-screen TVs to catch the eyes of bypassers. Computers help some exhibitors demonstrate their products. One landscape service, for instance, has a computer program that allows you to scan a photo of your house into the computer, and then let you see how it would look with a variety of trees, shrubs and flowers, all computer generated.

It's all worth it to exhibitors to get the contacts which may mean sales later on this spring.

The show continues today, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Vogel Arena.