Garden show returning

Touted as one of the city's most economically enhanced weekends, this year's Home and Garden Show in Clovis should provide a good financial jolt for local and out-of-state businesses, show co-chair Jim Sitterly said.

"The residual effects of this show are phenomenal," said Sitterly, who planned the show for March 29-30. "It's great advertising for the businesses taking part."

Mark Carpenter, owner of Mark Carpenter Plumbing in Clovis, said the show has been beneficial to him.

"It just generates lots of business for me," said Carpenter, who has been a part of the show since it came to Clovis in the mid-1980s. "It gives me opportunities to meet people. It's a way - for a reasonable price - to get your name out in front of people, and it's the best advertising I could ever do."

Of the 109 spots for businesses made available, only 20 were left one day after the show's announcement on Monday. By the end of the week, all spots will be accounted for, Sitterly said.

American Therapy, an adjustable bed business in Lubbock, is one of the show's mainstays and has yet to miss one of the Clovis shows, according to store sales person Louise Ritchey.

"We're glad to be going back this year," Ritchey said. "We have customers over there (in Clovis) that we need to see, and we always do well there. It's a good show; we make good connections."

Businesses showing everything related to housing merchandise, from appliances to furniture to garden supplies to motorcycles, will be on hand to display their products.

Of the businesses taking part in the show, about 90 percent are local, while the remainder come from all over New Mexico and Texas, and as far reaching as Arizona and Colorado, Sitterly said.

Sitterly described the show as the biggest one of its kind in the state, and one of the largest in the Southwest.

In the past, more than 7,000 people have attended the show, and Sitterly has no reason to think this year's attendance will be any different.