Omaha Home & Garden Expo shows promise of home improvements

Hurt, an Omaha resident, is interested in re-siding her house. Wellnitz, who lives in the Panhandle town of Rushville, wants to remodel her bathroom. To get ideas, the two friends came to the Omaha Home & Garden Expo at the CHI Health Center on Saturday.

They didn’t lack for options.

With more than 600 displays covering 150,000 square feet of exhibit space inside the convention center, the annual expo organized by Mid-America Exposition brings vendors specializing in anything from roofing, gardening and landscaping to hot tubs, mattresses, home remedies and more. Cooking demonstrations and a dog show were also part of the event.

“They have a lot of variety,” Hurt said as she and Wellnitz relaxed in rocking chairs.

Show director Mike Mancuso said this year’s expo, which will run one more day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, is one of the largest in the last five years. The show has been going on since 1967, including the last 21 years at the downtown Omaha event center.

“COVID, just in general, was a really difficult time for events. So we’re very pleased to have so many people together: The contractors and suppliers as well as the people coming to attend,” Mancuso said. “(We’re) very much back to normal and looking forward to getting bigger.”

Some unique aspects to this year’s home show, Mancuso said, include greater marketing on exterior LED lights and solar roofs. He added there’s also been a notable emphasis on hot tubs and swimming pools.

There’s also space for new businesses. Near The Canine Stars dog show area, which featured top-performing stunt dogs featured on “America’s Got Talent,” Karla Smith was selling many types of tasty-looking dog treats, including some shaped into frosted donuts, muffins and cookies, through her 1½-year-old business Milo’s Barkery.

With no physical retail space , Smith sells her products through community spaces, including the home show and farmers markets. Her display is set up like a normal bakery with treats sold individually. Many are topped with colorful frosting.

“It’s been very good and very busy,” Smith said in between customers. “It’s just really exploded here lately.”

Established businesses also prioritize appearing at home shows, according to Don Fellows.

Fellows, a salesman for Pella Windows & Doors, said the home shows have helped the manufacturer and retailer attract and retain customers as well as propel the Omaha and Lincoln company to the top of awards lists.

“We believe home shows are vital to our success in the community,” he said.

As home trends and styles change, home shows will be vital in helping show people how they can upgrade their homes and improve their quality of life, Fellows added.

“New innovations are happening all the time,” he said. “To make that decision, you want to see everything you can and compare all in one location.

“It’s a win-win for everybody.”