LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Winter is still eight weeks away, but the focus this week at the Kentucky Exposition Center is on spring and summer and what it takes to make properties look their best.
The Equip Expo, one of the largest trade shows in the world, started Tuesday. It's a show that has called Louisville home for the last 39 years, but only last year moved its offices to the city.
IMAGES: the @equipexposition show is going on at @kyexpocenter this week - one of the largest global trade shows in the U.S. with 40 countries represented. I’ll take you there tonight at 6! pic.twitter.com/agoOdJT8fa
— Joel Schipper (@JSchipperWDRB) October 19, 2022
Formerly known as the GIE+Expo, the Equip Expo is expected to bring in more than 25,000 people to the city this year - it's biggest ever.
"There is a big demand for this show. People love it here in Louisville," said Kris Kiser, president of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. "We want people to come to Louisville, stay in Louisville, get a better understanding for the city. We love it here."
The biggest names in landscape products brings distributors, contractors and wholesalers under one roof for three days every fall.
"Being here consistently means that customers want to know what they are going to get every year and who they are going to see and what they are going to talk about," said Dan Ariens, CEO of Ariens Co.
The show takes up over 1 million square feet of vendor space at the Expo Center with vendors from all over the world.
People exploring all that the Equip Expo has to offer on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville. (WDRB photo/Joel Schipper)
"I think our furthest this year is New Zealand or Guam," Kiser said. "So, yes, global. A lot of folks from Asia, a lot of folks from Europe."
The show brings in a roughly $20 million boost to Louisville's economy.
From lawnmowers to chainsaws, it's all about what is trending this year and beyond. Each vendor trying to impress buyers with high-tech displays and presentations.
But it's the overall 30-acre indoor-outdoor property of the Expo Center that keeps the show coming back.
"This facility is unique because it has outdoor space at the back door and they let us tear it up," Kiser said. "Rip, cut, dig, you name it, we move the earth around."
Outside, mowers are test driven or operated by a remote. Most products are available to try before purchase.
Although the how is closed to the general public, it gives retailers an idea of the latest and greatest outdoor equipment for the upcoming season.
"We want this to be meaningful to the attendees that they can come away with some peer-to-peer knowledge, some education knowledge, and frankly some experience knowledge with the machines," Kiser said.
Online registration for the show is closed, but it's available on-site in the North Wing Lobby. For more information, click here.
Related Stories:
Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
