LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 17th International Lawn, Garden and Power Equipment Expo (EXPO 2000), held in Louisville July 22-24, had a total attendee registration (not including exhibitors) of more than 20,000. The industry trade show is sponsored by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute Inc. (OPEI), and is geared to a variety of attendees, including lawn and landscape contractors, equipment manufacturers, dealers and retailers.
OPEI announced Aug. 10 that next year’s show will forgo the traditional Saturday through Monday format and instead be held Friday through Sunday, July 20-22, 2001. The change was based on survey responses from both visitors and exhibitors as to their preferences for the show. "Most visitors expressed a desire to be back at their businesses on Monday. This may be the perfect combination of days for this event," said Warren Sellers, show manager for EXPO 2000.
Bill Harley, president and CEO of OPEI, said the new days should give exhibitors more booth traffic on the last day of the show, which is typically the slowest day.
The registration breakdown of the more than 20,000 attendees includes the following category percentages:
- 42 percent– servicing dealers, retailers, buyers, rental dealers and lawn and garden centers
- 41 percent – lawn and landscape professionals and general contractors (a new category in 2000)
- 17 percent – distributors and manufacturers’ representatives
Several registration categories increased this year compared to the 1999 numbers, including serving dealers that carry consumer products (5 percent increase), distributors that specialize in consumer products (30 percent increase), distributors who carry only commercial products (12 percent increase) and lawn and garden center retailers (12 percent increase).
The overall figure for the event included nearly 28,000 participants at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center. The indoor exhibit area consists of 222,000 square feet and the outdoor demonstration area covers 642,000 square feet. Exhibiting companies numbered 561 with 149 showcasing products on natural turf in the outdoor area.
OPEI EXPO is listed among the top 12 in Tradeshow Week magazine’s annual list of top 200 trade shows in North America.
For more information about the OPEI EXPO visit http://expo.mow.org.
To view Lawn & Landscape Online’s coverage of EXPO 2000, including new product updates and EXPO photos, please visit www.lawnandlandscape.com/opeiexpo2000/home.htm.
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