The burbling fountains and rhodies are gone while the road yachts and travel trailers remain.
Where once an autumn in Tacoma saw a home-and-garden show and an RV show separate unto themselves, now the shows have been combined onto the calendar – and they play this weekend at the Tacoma Dome.
Minus the gardens. For that, you’ll have to wait until January.
“It’s a hybrid show,” said show manager Jeff Swenson of O’Loughlin Trade Shows, the Tacoma-based company that organizes Northwest home, garden, sporting and RV gatherings year-round.
“With the economy struggling in the home and RV industries, we were able to merge both,” he said.
Which is not to say the struggles spell doom.
“The cycle is recharging itself,” Swenson said. “We’re seeing some new people come in. We sold this show out. We have a waiting list for vendors. We haven’t had that in three years. It tells me that the people who survived are here to stay, and they know they need to get in front of people. And there are new companies. It’s not booming, but you see an uptick.”
So businesses buy a booth.
“They recognize that if the people aren’t coming to them, this is a way to put 7,000 to 10,000 people in front of you and book business for the winter.”
Which is just what James Peterson of Lanza Construction expects.
“We’re hoping to get at least 10 appointments,” he said Friday.
Before the downturn, his South Sound company specialized in the construction of new homes. Now, he said, “we’ve diversified our business. We do more remodeling, retrofits – we do whatever we need to do to survive.”
And he’s doing better than that.
“We’ve hired two new people in the last six months. We’re working hard to get the business. The business just doesn’t come to you anymore. You have to work hard.”
LaDonna Kummerfeldt, owner of Tacoma RV Center, said she too is seeing sunshine – filtered, perhaps, but light nonetheless.
“People who can afford these have waited, and now they’ve decided to buy,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of first-time buyers.”
Also, instead of taking trips to faraway and expensive places, people “are staying closer to home,” she said. “They’re shopping.”
They’re buying trailers, fifth-wheels and toy haulers. Also motor homes as large as Greyhound buses, or little teardrop trailers. They’re thinking about getting their gutters cleaned or shingles replaced. They’re buying hot tubs and sinks, faucets and countertops.
Plus which, this year as an added incentive, parking at the Dome is free.
C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535
c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com
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