DAVENPORT, Iowa — At the Quad Cities Builders & Remodelers Association's Home Show in Davenport, small businesses took center stage.
"We usually get between 4,500 and 6,000 people through the doors," QCBR Executive Officer Moana Peiffer said. "And it's huge for the vendors that are here. A lot of them get their business for the next year through the Home Show."
The Home Show was held at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds from Feb. 17-19, but it's the first time the show has resumed since the COVID-19 Pandemic halted it in 2020.
"We've been closed down with COVID for two years," Peiffer told News 8's Collin Riviello. "So people are sitting in their houses going 'I hate my kitchen. I hate my carpet. I hate this. I hate that.'"
This made it hard for not only those people, but also small businesses. Businesses like Thurman and Son Yard Works, a two-person landscaping company based in Galesburg, Ill.
"It was really hard [to start]," Company Founder Ronne Thurman said. "I posted a ton on social media [and] I advertised in my local town."
Thurman started the business in the summer of 2020, shortly after the start of the pandemic.
"The social distancing thing was a big key. And obviously, I'm outside so everybody's inside," Thurman added.
Which means his losses snowballed. He says he made $1,000 the first year and even in his second year of business, he's still not very profitable.
"A job will come along and they'll tell you 'no'. And then you'll try to sell yourself shorter. And then you realize in the long run that you shouldn't have lowered your price."
But he's not discouraged.
"You gotta be prepared to take more losses than wins," Thurman said.
And an in-person Home Show is a win for both customers and businesses.
"Looking online isn't what it's all cracked up to be," Home Show attendee Cindy Crowther said. "You can't really touch [or] feel. You gotta get the whole experience."
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