Page 21 - BusinessWest March 4, 2024

We’ve Got Business Lending
Power.
Commercial Lenders VP Darlene Mark & SVP Rob Chateauneuf, with Commercial Loan Officer Catherine Rioux.
Projects We’ve Recently Financed
Commercial Real Estate
$5,600,000
Real Estate Purchase Agawam, MA
Commercial Construction
$400,000
Land Purchase & Development Somers, CT
Commercial Real Estate
$3,746,000
Property Management Springfield & Holyoke, MA
Commercial Term Loan
$76,500
Landscaping Equipment East Longmeadow, MA
Contact our Commercial Lending Team
413-267-1254 or [email protected]
www.monsonsavings.bank MEMBER FDIC I MEMBER DIF
Meanwhile, homeowners looking to renovate — and that number spiked during the stay-at-home months of the pandemic, and remodelers still report a high volume of projects today — will find plenty of vendors of windows and doors; flooring, countertops, and tile; appliances and furnishings; and much more.
“You get a chance to touch them and feel them without traveling
to 20 different spots and other lumberyards all over Western Mas- sachusetts; you might be able to do it all in the same building,” Crane explained. “We might be able to show you several of the products — dif- ferent roofing, different siding, that type of thing.”
Plenty of Reasons
The annual event sees all types of attendees who visit for a variety of reasons, Crane noted. Attendees typically fall into one of several categories:
• People planning to buy or build a new home, who may visit with builders, real-estate agents, financial institutions, and sellers of compo- nent products;
• People planning to remodel or renovate, who may want to check in with all of the above, plus vendors of the aforementioned windows and doors, appliances, home furnishings, and more;
• Yard and garden enthusiasts, who tend to be interested in lawn and landscaping services; wall, walk, and edging components and materials; and trees, shrubs, flowers, and seeds;
• Renters, who have no plans to own a house, but may be interested in space-conservation and space-utilization products, as well as home furnishings;
• Impulse buyers, who flock to vendors of home décor, arts and crafts, cooking and baking products, jewelry, and personal goods; and
• Lifestyle-conscious individuals, who like to check out trendy, high- tech, or time-saving products, as well as home furnishings and products focused on self-improvement, fitness, and health.
The latter categories inject some fun into the Home & Garden Show, Crane said. “We hear it every year:
‘where’s the beer-nut guy?’ or ‘where’s the pickle guy?’ Those type of things are what make a show entertaining. We call ourselves the Home Builders and Remodelers Association, but everybody likes to look at the radio remote-control helicopter that flies around.”
Even with the more serious home- related purchases, everyone wants some variety, he added.
“You get a chance to
touch them and feel them without traveling to 20 different spots and other lumberyards all over Western Massachusetts; you might be able to do it all in the same building.”
“You don’t want to look at 500 sheds,
but it’s really nice to have a dozen there
to look at, with different types of shapes
and colors. It’s really nice to see win-
dows, but you don’t want to look at 300
windows. As you travel through the
aisles, you’ll see different fences, you’ll see different roofing, different siding, and then you’ll bump into the pickle guy, or you’ll bump into the beer-nut guy, or the person selling knives and pans. These are all part of the entertainment.”
Speaking of entertainment, Crane said he’s often considered the show a social event, or at least part of one.
“Before I was involved with the Home Show, I used to go because
I would see my neighbors and friends. We would plan to meet at the Home Show at 6:00, walk the Home Show for a couple hours and see dozens of our friends, and then we would plan a dinner date, go some- where with our wives and have a nice meal somewhere.”
He also noted that the show is an inexpensive outing, and just about everyone who checks it out will find something useful, whether they’re looking for it or not. “In some cases, people will pick up a card and might not even call that vendor or contractor until a year later, when they remember that they ran into them.”
For vendors, the show can fill up an entire year’s worth of projects, Crane said, so people need to manage their expectations and plan ahead. “If you’re looking for a roof, you might have to wait until August to get it. And after the Home Show, you might not even get it this year if that’s the person you want to use.”
Meanwhile, “other people are just there to make sure that the gener- al public knows they’re around if they ever can be of service. You know, pass out the business card,
and it goes on the refrigera-
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