If this frigid January weather has trapped you inside, you may be mulling over some home projects or dreaming about the gardening ahead in the spring.

Perfect timing if that is the case as County Home Shows kicks off its series in Washington County at the county fairgrounds, 2151 N. Main St., Chartiers, this weekend.

Friday through Sunday, more than 125 vendors and experts will provide advice on home improvement, decorating and landscaping projects, according to a news release. Visitors can check out indoor exhibits, attend seminars and watch how-to demonstrations geared to educate and entertain individuals interested in information, advice and inspiration. At 2 p.m. on Saturday, Evey True Value Hardware Bethel Park owner Andy Amrhein will hold an “Ask the Expert” session. 

Throughout the three-day show, the Jewelry, Home Decor and Gem Sale will feature 5,000 square feet of sterling silver gemstone jewelry, crystals, minerals and fossils for those interested in decorating their homes with natural art items, the release stated. 

Pool City and Valley Pool & Spa are the event’s presenting sponsors, and Visit Washington is another partner. No admission fee is charged, and parking is also free for attendees.

This is the first of five regional home shows in 2025, with the others set for Coraopolis, South Hills, North Hills and Butler County. The AHN Montour Sports Complex in Coraopolis is a new site this year, according to organizers.

Bernie Caplan, a County Home Shows partner with Rocco Lamanna, said Butler is where the shows began in 2012. The two met at Clear Channel Radio, working together on a number of successful events and projects. After they left the radio business, Caplan was living in Butler at the time and had some experience with home shows. The idea to launch one of their own started “over a beer and a sandwich.”

They have two part-time employees, who work on publicity and promotional materials design, while they sell the show booths, review legal contracts with vendors and venues, place media buys, write scripts, and set up floor plans for each event. They hire people to work the shows.

County Home Shows remained just in Butler for three years before the partners added South Hills. That started at Southpointe and has since moved to Bethel Park. It is one of the biggest shows, Caplan said. Attendance at all sites ranges from 4,000 to 7,800, depending on the venue capacity and fluctuating at times because of weather.

AHN Montour Sports Complex became a new site this year because Caplan and Lamanna had worked previously with its general manager. He reached out to them and showed them the 2-year-old site in Coraopolis, which Caplan called lovely. They were sold.

He said it normally takes a few years for new shows to take hold. Previously they worked with The Block Northway in Ross, but the addition of a new restaurant there ate into a third of the space they need to set up a home show. “It was a smaller space,” Caplan said. “We knew that was a short-term thing.”

The vendors for all the shows are mostly regional companies, with the average being 70% local.

Hardware expert Andy Armhein will present a clinic at each regional home show this year. (County Home Shows)

“Many of the shows’ businesses travel out of their [regional] markets and out of a 30-mile radius,” Caplan said. “Definitely they’re mostly regional. That’s the appeal of most of our shows. People have done business or know of those vendors because they are from that area. It’s one of the things that have worked for us, which is different from the very large shows, and those are great, too. It’s going to be somebody you know of or did work for someone you know.”

Vendor variety is a plus, too. “They can be landscapers, roofing, cutlery and more,” he said. “You might not find 10 of them, but you’ll find three of them. We’re very aware of the types of things people are looking for, and we try to find exhibitors for what they are looking for.

“The nice thing about our shows is that we get new people all the time.” 

Most of those vendors take part in three-quarters of County Home Shows events. Turnover is inevitable as businesses can have changes in marketing and ownership, and some close for one reason or another. Caplan added a vendor after he completed some chimney pointing work at his Dorseyville home, and others come through relationship building.

The gem show portion came through a third party who placed the partners in touch with Tom Kelly, its founder. A trial attempt about five years ago worked out, and Caplan said his participation adds a different flavor and a different demographic to the shows. “We cross promote each other,” he said. “It has worked great. Some will come to see the gem show and start walking through the home show. And it happens conversely, too.”  

The Battle of the Burgh at the Washington County show will involve the two presenting sponsors in one of the fairgrounds’ buildings competing for customers with pool and spa deals over the weekend, he said.

Participants can purchase food at the show from a combination of food trucks and barbecue prepared on site. That’s another facet of the shows that has grown, Caplan said, and it serves attendees, vendors and workers.  “No one should leave the show hungry,” he added.

The schedule for the other shows: Feb. 21-23, Montour Home Show at AHN Montour Sports Complex, Coraopolis; Feb. 28-March 2, South Hills Home Show at Cool Springs Sports Complex, Bethel Park; March 21-23 North Hills Home Show at North Park Sports Complex, Hampton; and April 4-6 Butler County Home Show at Family Sports Center, Connoquenessing. Armhein will hold his clinics at all the shows, and Doug Oster will offer a gardening presentation at the Montour and South Hills events. Descriptions for each are available here. This year the Pittsburgh Gem Show will be part of all except the Butler County show.

The Washington County Home Show hours are Friday 3-8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, visit www.WashingtonCountyHomeShow.com.    

A family at the 2024 South Hills Home Show checks out some playground possibilities. (County Home Shows)

Helen is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Contact her at hfallon@unionprogress.com.

Helen Fallon

Helen is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Contact her at hfallon@unionprogress.com.