Great Big Home Show lends a roof to local businesses

Friday, April 9, 2010

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by EMILY BARNES Karen Berry, right, and Eddie Kloiber are the organizers of the Great Big Home & Leisure Show, which will be held from April 9 through 11 in Waldorf's Capital Clubhouse. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

From roofing to baseball mascots, carpentry to gourmet cookery, the Great Big Home & Leisure Show in Waldorf promises to have it all.

Now in its second season, the event brings more than 100 exhibitors related to construction and free time together under one roof, a 1,800-square-foot ice rink in the Capital Clubhouse, from April 9 through 11.

The organizers, Karen Berry and Eddie Kloiber, say the event brings Waldorf into the big leagues of trade shows, so that those who are serious about learning more about home and leisure opportunities no longer need to travel to Prince George's County or Northern Virginia to discover the best the region has to offer.

The show's headline attraction is Robert Hesse, the chef at Catamaran's Restaurant in Solomons and a former contestant on the Fox television show, "Hell's Kitchen." He will talk and sign autographs.

Pinch, the fuzzy crustacean mascot of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball team, will be on hand to entertain the younger set as parents check out real estate agents and golf courses, organizers said.

Tickets for most attendees are $8, but despite the tight times the organizers expect to attract between 5,000 and 10,000 visitors. Charging an admission fee helps ensure that only serious spectators show up, Berry said.

One of the show's advantages is literally the personal touch, Berry said. In choosing a building contractor, "You've got to have that handshake. That makes all the different in the world, that handshake."

Raley's Home Furnishings, with stores in Waldorf and Lexington Park, will make its debut appearance at the show. Its display will include customizable sofas, a leather recliner and neon lighting for a home theater, said Vice President Terri Raley. The economy has made selling mid- to high-range furniture more difficult but tax return season is coming, she added.

"It's challenging, although when people have their tax returns they usually want to furnish their homes. That's one of the things that comes up: They want to have big ticket items; they want to furnish their homes. It's a challenging environment but we're doing OK," Raley said. The company will offer lottery tickets and a gift certificate drawing to entice browsers to its table.

Now is a good time for home repair businesses because homeowners are staying put, said Steve Luck, a salesman for Snell and Sons, a Brandywine home contracting company. "Our business has done good through the recession because people are fixing their houses because they're not moving," Luck said. The company is returning to the show because of last year's "great turnout."

The show attracted more building contractors than anyone else the first time around, in August 2009, but this weekend presenters will include a jeweler, a purveyor of scented oils and even a local line of soups, Berry said. The first show was successful enough that would-be presenters urged them to hold another. Now they intend to organize the events semiannually, with the next tentatively planned for sometime in the fall.

"So many exhibitors were in asking us to return to do a spring and fall show. We're back [by] popular demand. I know that sounds corny but it really was," Berry said.

Berry said her motives are not entirely entrepreneurial, but altruistic as well. A few years ago she lost her promotional job with a Charles County roofing and siding company. While, in her case, her sudden unemployment led her to found her own company, Square Watermelon, she hopes to keep other workers from being traumatized in this way, she said.

"Out of that feeling of devastation, I thought, ‘I wouldn't want a business to do that to somebody else. If I could help businesses stay alive maybe there won't be so many layoffs,'" she said.

Eddie Kloiber, owner of Empire Graphics in Waldorf, had worked with Berry when she worked with the roofing company and the partnership between a marketing expert and a printing company owner was a natural one. "We just decided to do it. It's a challenge for both of us. It's something new and fresh to get into," Kloiber said.

The Great Big Home & Leisure Show will be open 3-9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday at the Capital Clubhouse, 3033 Waldorf MarketPlace, Waldorf. Tickets are $8, $5 for seniors and those with a military ID. For more information, go to www.greatbighomeshow.com.