Dotty Fothergill is gearing up to meet hundreds of prospective new customers this weekend.
Fothergill, owner of Dotty’s Decorating Studio in Pawtucket, R.I., is one of more than 600 business owners who will be exhibiting at the 52nd annual GMC New England Home Show starting Saturday at the World Trade Center in Boston.
“I get 50 percent of my work for the year” at the show, said Fothergill, who has been providing New England homeowners with custom window treatments for 28 years.
With exhibits showcasing all aspects of home maintenance, decorating and landscaping, the nine-day show will also include an expanded list of lectures/seminars. The seminars will feature such famous experts as Christopher Lowell, the Emmy-award winning host of a designing show that airs on the Discovery Channel. Lowell will give a one-hour interactive lecture on home design that will cost $20, which includes entry to the show.
Also scheduled to appear are Linda Varone, a Boston-based designer who will talk about feng shui, and Monique Allen, a landscape artist whose work has been featured on the public television program “This Old House,” who will discuss how to landscape in three easy phases.
This is the first year the show will have a theme, according to Susan Butler, spokesman for show producer dmg world media. “Step into Spring” was selected as the theme, and show attendees are likely to feel that way as they escape the cold and traffic of Boston streets and walk through the landscaped lobby of the World Trade Center.
“It will be like walking into a garden,” said Butler. The landscaped lobby area will include a $5,000 children’s playhouse designed and donated by Barbara Butler. Butler, a California-based artist, has designed play structures for children of the rich and famous, including Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.
Business Boost
The donated playhouse, which will feature carved window and door trims, colorful borders, Dutch doors and shuttered windows, will be raffled off to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
For participants more interested in cooking than playtime, the show will also spotlight two $100,000 kitchens with the latest appliances. The kitchens are courtesy of exhibitors Jarvis Appliance in Wellesley and Westboro Design Center.
Experts from Ethan Allen will also be on hand to answer design and decorating questions, and homeowners can bring in photographs of their yards and landscapers can map out a garden design using a special computer program.
And if that’s not enough, participants can spend hours perusing the various exhibits. In addition to Fothergill’s exhibit on window treatments, attendees can get information on general contracting companies that do additions and renovations, siding and window-manufacturers and installers, and custom kitchen-cabinet makers.
This is the fifth year that Fothergill will be exhibiting. The $3,200 she shells out for the 10-by-12 booth space is well worth it because it attracts many customers from the Boston area, she said, many of whom are interested in her services.
Even though last year some exhibitors complained that the Big Dig construction and traffic mix-ups were hurting business during the week, Fothergill said her business was not affected because she does not sell products at the show. Instead, Fothergill is searching for prospective leads, which she said usually come from people building new homes and from empty nesters and others buying second homes.
“Business is booming,” she said.
The show has typically attracted a diverse crowd, but Butler said the audience appears to be getting younger and more people are bringing children along. She has also noticed more empty nesters in attendance, particularly people who may be moving into smaller homes or condominiums but are still searching for extra amenities like hot tubs.
The show runs from Feb. 23 to March 3 at the World Trade Center at 164 Northern Ave. in Boston. Show hours are 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays; and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $8.50 for adults and $3 for children. Children under 5 can attend for free.
