Top Transactions: Home shows yield client contacts

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Editor’s note: Finance & Commerce checks certificates of real estate value filed with the Minnesota Department of Revenue as well as data from the Northstar Multiple Listing Service, Realtor.com, county records and other sources.

General Manager Dwayne Witf and his small crew of 10 at the Pro-Shed Buildings plant in Mountain Lake make nearly 400 custom he-sheds, she-sheds, storage sheds and tiny houses a year.

Designs range from a small utility shed to a 16-by-40-foot chalet, with prices from $2,500 to more than $30,000.

One of the company’s biggest challenges is that Mountain Lake is a town of barely 2,000, more than 140 miles southwest of its biggest market, the Twin Cities. Pro-Shed has a few lots where people can see models, but they’re not staffed and the company doesn’t have stores where people can go inside models, look around and order what they want. It doesn’t produce enough volume to have its products in a major chain, like Lowe’s or Menards.

“Exposure to people is essential,” said Witf. He plans to get five days of that exposure starting Wednesday at the Minneapolis Home + Garden Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. More than 600 vendors will spend the next few days hauling stone, blocks and decking, setting up security systems, staging rooms and gardens and building an entire house. Four decking companies will compete in “Deck Wars,” while experts will be on hand to help people plan projects or get them back on track.

There will even be an appearance Saturday by Mike Rowe, star of “Dirty Jobs.”

The show draws tens of thousands of people each year, and like the people who wander through boat shows this time of year, most of them are at least dreaming about buying.

The Minneapolis show is just one of dozens around the state and across the upper Midwest.

Marketplace Events produces the Minneapolis show and 51 consumer home shows in the U.S. and 16 in Canada.

“We do rely a lot on the shows,” Witf said. Last year he and his team made it to Minneapolis show for the first time and had no doubt about returning.

“When we can show people the quality of our sheds, that’s where we really shine,” he said.

Pro-Shed isn’t alone. Patio Town in Oakdale is closed for the winter, but its website lets customers know its employees will be available at 10 home shows from now through the end of March.

With six greenhouse locations and two small retail shops in Minneapolis and Edina, Bachman’s may be one of the most familiar names in plants in the Twin Cities.

After a 15-year hiatus, Bachman’s returns to the Home Show in a big way this year, with a 2,000-square-foot landscaping display. It’s one of seven landscapers from across the state creating displays with the theme of “Gardens Through the Decades.”

“We’ve been planning this for a year,” said Karen Bachman Thull, director of marketing for the family business. It will take four days to get everything set up.

The home show is a good way to line up new business, but Bachman said workers at the show also will be able to offer free “garden coaching” to help customers with their questions and encourage them in dealing with Minnesota’s challenging growing conditions.

“We love to connect with our customers,” she said.