ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) – The first major event at the Resch Expo is being held this weekend.
Boats were rolled in this week for the Green Bay Boat Show. Terry Charles from PMI Entertainment says the excitement is putting an extra skip in his step.
“We were dark essentially since mid-March. After the W.I.A.A. girls state basketball tournament was cut short, there was nothing in these buildings or really for our industry until probably mid to late November, when the Green Bay Gamblers hockey started to play,” Charles told WTAQ News. “For this new building to finally be done, that in itself is exciting. But in light of the pandemic, to have the first event to get some people in into show off this new building is exciting.”
Thousands of people are expected to attend the event this weekend. But with a 125,000 square foot showroom, any concerns surrounding social distancing can be alleviated a bit.
“At any one time, there are going to be hundreds of people probably in this building. Most of the aisles are gonna be anywhere between 8 to 10 feet wide, so folks are gonna have ample opportunity to do social distancing,” Charles said.
He’s also optimistic that the influx of people could create a boost for the economy that hasn’t been seen in nearly a year.
“It just helps the economy in this area. People getting back to Green Bay and stopping eating at a restaurant or stopping in a store to do some shopping,” Charles said.
As for COVID-19 precautions, masking will be required and self-service temperature stations are being placed at every entrance. Per CDC guidelines, a temperature of 100.4 degrees is too high – however, hats can sometimes spike the temperature, so some individuals may be asked to simply wait a few minutes and try again.
For a preview of clips from Thursday, check out this video:
As for the show itself, exhibitors started rolling in their boats and making them shine this week.
“We’re gonna have between 150 and 200 boats, 125,000 square feet. If anybody can picture what Shopko Hall was like, this new facility is 3 times the size of that,” Charles said. “Before they enter the building, the boats are washed in the entry area and then they are brought into the main floor. Once they’re here, the dealers are touching them up even more – wiping them down, shining them up so they look spectacular for the show.”
One of those exhibitors is Ken’s Sports out of Kaukauna. They had a full team of people vacuuming and polishing boats to make sure everything looked just right ahead of the show.
“I see all the dealers pressure washing their boats, cleaning them up, and making sure that everything is clean,” said Ken’s Sports owner, Jay Vanderloop. “The show and on the load in is way more user friendly, and the space is way more user friendly [with] bigger aisles, and just more room to move around.”
Already on Thursday, Vanderloop showed WTAQ their wide array of products.
“[We have] over 70 boats on display here. Pontoon boats, fiberglass boat, the new Vexus line of fiberglass boats, a big display of Crestliner boats,” Vanderloop said. “We’ve had many customers come in our store here in the last couple months looking forward to the boat show, being excited about it.”
And while it’s an important showcase for sellers, he says it might be even more important for consumers who are in the market to buy new watercraft.
“We find that it’s probably 20 to 25 percent of our retail is at the show for the entire year, so it’s a pretty important show for us,” Vanderloop said. “A lot of manufactures are sold out for the rest of the model year. So it’s very important for consumers to get to dealers, and most importantly to get to the show to get a boat reserved, or they’re gonna be left on shore.”
The Green Bay Boat Show runs Friday through Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and military, and free for children under 17. A weekend pass is $16.
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