The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Expo connects customers, businesses
Great Lakes Mall is already full of storefronts, from wing to wing and everywhere in between. But on March 2, the amount of locations spiked as local vendors and pop-ups set up shop along the main thoroughfare.
Various types of businesses and vendors attended to promote, network and connect with the public.
The 2019 Home & Lifestyle Expo was hosted by the Lake County Chambers of Commerce and featured around 46 vendors. The expo has been taking place for about 18 years.
Kathleen Obrenski, Eastern Lake County Chamber of Commerce office administrator, highlighted consumer connection as one of the main goals of the event.
“Our hope is to give small businesses the opportunity to get some face time with the local consumer,” Obrenski said. She added, “(Great Lakes Mall is) not a venue where we have to hope that people will come. It’s a venue where the people are already there.”
She said that the expo also features Auburn Career Center cooking demos (done by culinary students), Willoughby-Eastlake cosmetology demos and fashion show (also done by students), a Leadership Lake County fashion show and Fairport Dance Academy performance.
To close the entertainment, Obrenski said, Streb Electric donates a free generator to a worthy recipient.
This year’s expo was a oneday event, which was designed to make it easier on vendors who found it difficult to staff for two days.
Optimum Apparel, a clothing brand with a main office in Mentor, was one business that set up a pop-up shop during the expo. The company launched on Dec. 18 last year.
Founding member of Optimum, Brenden Parker, mentioned that the pop-up store in Great Lakes Mall was the company’s first. Most of their business is online.
“It’s been pretty well for us so far,” Parker said, concerning the pop-up store. “We’re searching here; we’re getting some feedback here, as well. It’s good marketing.”
He added that the company was showcasing its first collection and that the expo helped bring in good foot traffic.
Elaine Carroll, a realtor with Howard Hanna, said that a fair amount of people had trickled in to the company’s table during the expo.
“We’ve been here three years,” Carroll said. “Last year we had photo booth and everything to win the prize for the best booth, and now we’ve got a lot of competition.”
The competition she mentioned spanned almost the entirety of the mall’s main thoroughfare, from the North to the South end.
Each vendor was required to be a member of a Lake County chamber of commerce.
As mall-goers walked, some stopped and talked with vendors. Some kids participated in activities, such as decorating paper crowns.
The expo also featured an “upcycle re-purpose contest,” where the public was challenged to recreate old items into something new and different.
Obrenski added that the expo is designed to be an opportunity for small businesses.
“There may be somebody who people just aren’t aware of, but then we give them that opportunity to put themselves in front of a local consumer and hopefully build their brand and business,” Obrenski said.
“It’s definitely to create awareness to help our small businesses.”