PORT ANGELES — The 2015 Clallam County Home and Lifestyle Show is back to its former glory, according to its organizers.
From heating systems and hot tubs to cakes and pet training services, about 140 vendors were kept busy as potential customers kept coming through the doors of Port Angeles High School’s gymnasiums all weekend.
Even late Sunday, as vendors were nearly ready to break down their booths and go home, a few people roamed the aisles seeking ideas, entering contests and gathering samples.
“We’re back at capacity. This is where we were five or six years ago, before the economy took a downturn,” said Todd Ortloff, KONP radio general manager who estimated that as many as 10,000 people visited the rebranded show on Saturday and Sunday.
KONP cosponsors the exhibition with the Clallam County Public Utility District.
Ortloff said it was difficult to know exactly how many people attended because there was no official count as well as many repeat customers who visited Saturday and returned Sunday, Ortloff said.
“We had really good turnout both days,” he said.
The crowds arrived in steady streams, he said, so there were few lulls in the action on the showroom floor.
“All of the vendors are staying they have had really good success,” he said
Home and Lifestyle Show organizers consider it a showplace for Peninsula and visiting businesses and organizations to display their services and for prospective customers to gather information for spring and summer plans.
In 2014, and earlier it was known as the KONP Home Show.
It debuted in 1963 as a joint effort of the Port Angeles Evening News — now Peninsula Daily News — and the now defunct Port Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce.
In addition to the new name, the date for the show was moved from a late February weekend to the second weekend in March to reduce the chances of bad weather during the show weekend
The Home and Lifestyle Show is more than a chance to connect businesses and customers. It’s also a place where people meet up with old friends they haven’t seen in a while, Ortloff said.
“It’s a nice community event. People are walking around and chatting. It’s a little bonus,” he said.
For information on the Home and Lifestyle Show, see www.cchomeshow.com.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
