New QC home show finds new home

The Quad Cities Builders and Remodelers Home Show is back this weekend, and it’s at a new venue — the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 W. Locust St., Davenport.

The show is going on for the first time since February 2020. Admission is $10 and will be cash only, with ATMs available. Friday, Feb. 17 (from noon to 8 p.m.) is Senior Day with $2 off admission.

The show continues Saturday, Feb. 18th from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 19th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. After taking a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Quad Cities Builders and Remodelers Association is looking forward to sharing anything and everything related to your home in one huge event, according to a Wednesday event release.

After about 35 years at the QCCA Expo Center in Rock Island, the QCBR surveyed vendors last year and many requested a venue in Iowa, said QCBR executive officer Mona Peiffer.

“We’re just really, really excited about it,” she said Wednesday of planning a new show in 2022. “Actually, we don’t have anything against the Expo Center or anything. It was kind of where we thought, well we haven’t had a home show in two years, so if we make any changes, we thought that would be a good time. A lot of vendors are also from the Iowa side.

“So they were kind of like, hey can we try something a little bit different?” Peiffer said, noting they are in two buildings at the fairgrounds, with ample on-site parking, more than available at the Expo Center.

“In the end, a lot of people were saying, ‘let’s move it to Iowa and see what happens,’ ” she said. “So we thought this would be the perfect time to do it, coming off of a two-year hiatus.”

Coupons at Hy-Vee

For show admission, there are also $2-off coupons in the Home Show booklet available in Hy-Vee stores. The Home Show offers ideas and you can see the latest trends in flooring, windows, doors, siding, roofing, landscaping, and more.

The Home Show will take place in two buildings very close to one another with 112 vendors, representing over 220 booths. There are several new exhibitors this year, as well as some of your favorites from over the years, the release said.

“It is growing and there are some companies that have been with us for years and years and years, but I will tell you this year we probably have 20-25 businesses have never been in the home show before,” Peiffer said. “And that’s amazing — brand-new, amazing companies that you’ve never seen at the Home Show before.”

“Everything has been a lot easier here for the vendors because at the Expo Center, there was only like two big overhead doors and here there’s like 13, so it’s been a lot easier for the vendors to load in and load out,” she said.

“And there’s concessions at both buildings, too, and we have brand new pipe and drape, which makes such a huge difference. It looks so nice as the backdrops and everything in between the booths,” Peiffer said.

Enter off Clark Street

Visitors should enter the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds through Gate 5 off of Locust Street, near Clark Street. This entrance will directly take you to the show in the Iowa Building sponsored by Fanth-Curry Home Improvement Co., and the Fair Center sponsored by Electric Doctor.

One admission fee allows you to explore both buildings. Kids 12 and under get in free, and can get in on the adventure with a scavenger hunt, searching for clues in the incredible displays.

QCBR is a very strong supporter of the Student Trades Initiative, the release said. “We are proud to announce that several local high schools took us up on the challenge in making benches with designs of their choice. They will all be on display at the Home Show, and you will be able to view these creative benches, as well as bid on them in a silent auction,” the group said.

Seiffert Building Supplies donated the materials, and the proceeds of each auction will be divided equally between the school who crafted each individual bench, and the QCBR Student Built Homes Scholarship Fund.

The association has had this fund for 25 years, giving out about $15,000 a year for Davenport and North Scott high school students to build homes on their own, Peiffer said.

The Home Show will have a special preview party on Thursday (Feb. 16), from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., mainly for vendors, workers and families. It is open to the public, for $35 at the door, and it includes food, drinks, and live music by Lynn Allen, Peiffer said.

The QCBR is made up of 250 members, and about 90 percent of Home Show vendors are members, she said. For more information on QCBR, visit their website HERE.

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