Several changes were made to this year’s Estevan Showcase Business Expo, and the organizers of the event believe they were well-received.
The 25th edition of Showcase was held on Friday and Saturday at the Power Dodge Curling Centre, with 61 booths booked. Two of those exhibits were outdoors.
Traditionally Showcase has been held over three days instead of two, and it has typically been in Affinity Place or the Power Dodge Ice Centre instead of the curling rink.
Approximately 1,700 people attended this year’s Showcase, with more than 650 on Friday and around 1,050 on Saturday.
“I think we had a good variety of vendors,” said Art Beselt, the chairperson of the Showcase committee. “The vendors that I talked to were certainly positive. They liked the venue. They liked the fact that it was heated. They liked the fact that the crowds were good.”
Some of the vendors have already pre-registered for next year.
The vendors were pleased to have a two-day show, he said. Some thought there could have been adjustments to the hours; they suggested having Showcase open at 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. on Friday instead of 4 p.m.; others hinted Showcase could have wrapped up at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. on Saturday.
“We’ll take a look at all of the evaluations when they come in,” said Beselt. “I have some, but I haven’t got them all.”
The curling rink could likely accommodate another 20 exhibitors on the floor, he said.
Showcase offered a variety of merchandise, including food, clothes and health products. Professional services were part of the event, and numerous non-profit organizations also had booths.
Shifting Showcase to the Power Dodge Curling Centre was also well-received. Heaters could be turned on if it was too cold inside, and the committee did fire up the heaters at one point.
Showcase also waived its admission fee this year. Patrons were encouraged to bring a cash donation or a non-perishable food item for the Salvation Army’s food bank. Beselt didn’t have an exact figure for the amount of donations received, but he believes it was well-supported.
“I think it was probably 500 or 600 pounds of food, from carrying the boxes of food out, and probably $500 or $600 in cash,” said Beselt.
One of the vendors captured a video of the food being brought in and posted the video on the Showcase Facebook page.
Among the exhibitors this year was Juice Plus, which is run by Judy Pratt and Gail Schlamp. Pratt described the company as one that helps bridge the gap between what people should eat, and what they do eat, although she said it’s not a substitute for daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
The company has been a mainstay of the event for a number of years, although they took a couple of years off because they weren’t happy with the floor covering used at Affinity Place back when Showcase was at the events centre.
Pratt said they received good traffic throughout the day, and they were able to share their product with local residents.
“This is a great way for us to expose our product to them and teach them about healthy living,” said Pratt.
They were also pleased with the location for Showcase, as they said it was cozy, but they still had enough space for their booth.
And they praised the decision to not have an admission fee.
“I think there’s a pretty good display of different products, too,” said Pratt.
Schlamp added they have had a lot of interested customers throughout the last two days, and it’s been a very good response.
This year’s Showcase was a project of the Rotary Club of Estevan, the Estevan Lions Club and the Estevan Chamber of Commerce. The chamber had previously announced that this would be its last year with Showcase, but Beselt expects Rotary and the Lions will continue to hold the event next year.
Beselt noted that next year’s Showcase will be a week earlier in September to accommodate the curling rink so they can begin installing the ice in late September, but he is confident in the long-term future of the event, and he looks forward to seeing some new faces on the Showcase board.
