In time for spring

Hot tubs. Gutter equipment. High-end furniture. Robotic lawnmowers.

Those are a few of the home remodeling, repair and maintenance products on display at the New Bern Home and Garden Show that was estimated to draw several thousand people to the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center on Saturday.

The Sun Journal-sponsored and produced, two-day event that will continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today has drawn more than 5,000 people in the past, said Judy Avery, vice president for marketing for Freedom ENC Communications.

 “There’s no room in the house that’s not covered,” she said, listing products and services in cabinetry, decorating and countertops on display at the show. “You can find something for every room in the house.”

A new vendor this year was the Raleigh-based Amazon Millworks that designs, coordinates, and installs custom woodwork such as doors or mantels for luxury hotels, executive offices or “really big, crazy homes,” said Andrew Sloop, company owner.

“All the furniture is custom-made,” Sloop said. “Nothing is off the shelf.”

Sloop said she started the company in 2007. He was working about seven years prior to that as a missionary in Lima, Peru, where he met a man who lived in a “humble home,” but who had immaculate furniture that he had carved himself.

“For years after that, I pondered getting that kind of craftsmanship in the states,” he said.

Sloop said he teamed up with a Peruvian businessman, who coordinates the furniture production by about 25 employees who have health insurance and are paid more than the United States minimum wage.

“According to Peruvian standards, they’re living really well,” he said.

He brought his company to the Home and Garden Show since the company normally attends shows in the fall and in April, but not in March. The company does not have “a lot of competition” for its specialization in New Bern, he added.

“The good thing is, everybody appreciates the good craftsmanship,” he said of the show attendees. “We’ll find out whether we get any qualified leads as well.”

Maggie Konczal and her daughter Sara Neilson said the “neatest” product they saw at the show was the robotic lawnmower shown by Ray Reilly, sales manager for lawn equipment for the Alliance-based company Pamlico Parts Co.

Reilly had a Kyodo American LawnBott on display that is programmed to independently mow a lawn within the bounds of a guide wire that must be put up around the property perimeter and around any garden beds that should not be mowed.

Reilly said the robotic mower mows three to four hours per charge, and if it rains or needs to be recharged, it will automatically return to its docking station to do so.

“You’re not out there in all kinds of weather,” Reilly said, describing the mower’s benefits.

He added that the Home and Garden Show is a good place to display products because it gathers people together as if it were the downtown of a city.

“”This has become Main Street USA for the weekend for people to come and window shop,” he said.

New Bern resident Beverley Fiske said she and her husband Bill have been regular show attendees. They have a “relatively new home” and like to come to preview products that can help to keep their home in good shape.

“All of the (vendors) are very pleasant,” she said. “They give you good advice even if you don’t purchase anything.”

Laura Oleniacz can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at loleniacz@freedomenc.com.