Vendors set up shop for the weekend for annual home show
BUTLER TWP — Judy and David Resh moved to Cranberry Township from California two years ago, and sought out the Butler County Home Show, knowing they would see many local vendors in one place.
This year, when they found themselves in need of new windows, they returned Friday to the Family Sports Center on Evans City Road.
“We’re not familiar with the area so we didn’t know where to go,” Judy Resh said. “We’re trying to replace our windows so we came here.”
The 11th Butler County Home Show continues from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Family Sports Center, which is filled with a variety of items from more than 100 vendors.
Rocco Lamanna, manager of the Butler County Home Show, said the show always gets some new vendors, but there are many that come year after year because of their success at the show.
“We've got 100 vendors who service the greater Butler area,” Lamanna said. “We have food trucks... outdoor food vendors, wineries, distilleries, floor and carpet, windows — it's almost like a little pop-up market.”
Tables and booths are setup along the perimeter of the athletic court, and they form several rows of vendors that people can browse like grocery store aisles.
Many vendors have items that people can try before they buy, like air conditioners, tables, massage guns and mattresses. The sellers themselves offer some free samples and trials of their merchandise, which is often enough to lure in curious browsers.
Larry Berberich of Butler found himself on a chair getting a massage from a massage gun for several minutes, which he said was worth the trip to the show.
“I come to this every year,” Berberich said. “I like to come see what’s new.”
Troy Stiffler, of Evans City, sprawled out on a memory foam mattress while he and his wife, Julie Stiffler, heard about the seller’s offers for the product.
Troy Stiffler said he and Julie were on a mission at the home show.
“She’s really interested in getting a new bed,” Troy Stiffler said. “We missed it in Pittsburgh but we wanted to come see what they had here.”
Lamanna said people may be able to find these vendors in other ways, but for Butler County residents, the home show provides a convenient circuit of local sellers. He said he expects about 5,000 to 6,000 people to come through the home show this weekend.
“We like doing a quality event every year,” he said. “We are going to bring a small sample of a larger home show to Butler. In Butler, they might go downtown (Pittsburgh) for the bigger show, but we try to get as much as possible for them here.”
The main sponsor of the home show is Armstrong Comfort Solutions. Admission and parking are free.
