Home and Garden Show a popular draw

About 1000 people defied the recession for a spot of window-shopping at the 2009 Home and Garden Show in Masterton at the weekend.
Event Action owner and show organiser Mark Harris said close to 40 exhibitors from as far away as Tauranga outfitted the War Memorial stadium with stalls including those focused on domestic energy savings to home insulation and renovation.
The Wairarapa Times-Age - along with ITM Timu and Radio Network - was a sponsor of the two-day event and an exhibitor that helped attract more than 600 people through the doors on Saturday, Mr Harris said.
"The challenge is always getting the punters along. But Saturday was over our target and I can easily see another 400 to 500 people coming along yet. We will definitely exceed a thousand, " he said yesterday morning.
"Those numbers are even better when you think we're getting our target numbers despite the recession. At some point in time, it's going to pick up again and operators need to show potential customers they are ready to take their business. "
Mr Harris said the most popular service featured at the show, which required a $2 entry fee and also featured an onsite cafe, was the government-sponsored home insulation scheme.
"There were several people presenting the scheme, and between them they certainly seemed the most popular exhibitors."
The show ran from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday and each person who attended went in a special prize draw, Mr Harris said.