Atlanta Fall Home Show displays wares with Southern style

Home Channel News, Oct 23, 2000 by Elizabeth Consavage

ATLANTA -- Homeowners had to go no further than the Cobb Galleria Centre here to find everything they could need for their homes.

From hot tubs to gutter guards, water gardens to stained glass doors, kitchen cabinets and the latest in cleaning supplies, the Atlanta Fall Home Show offered hundreds of products for home improvement and maintenance.

Cookware demonstrations, vacation and financial planning, game room products and wireless telephones were some of the products featured by the 200-plus local and regional vendors at the show, known as the place "where affluent Atlanta discovers the secrets to gracious living."

The Atlanta show is one of literally hundreds of homeowner-oriented events held virtually every week around the country that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors looking for advice and the latest new products. Some of these home shows, like those held in Detroit and in Long Island, N.Y, have long histories and attract thousands of attendees and exhibitors which sometimes include local home improvement dealers.

Home Depot, which is based in Atlanta, served as sponsor of the tour-day event here The retailer used its booth to display various lawn and garden products as well as several kitchen and bath vignettes. A stage was set up where Home Depot put on workshops including working with payers, installing vinyl flooring and demonstrating decorative painting.

One Fulton County, Ga., couple said they came to the Atlanta show to get some ideas about landscaping for their backyard and to check out prices on kitchen cabinets. They left with some brochures and price estimates for their intended projects as well as information on something they hadn't considered before -- hot tubs.

Jacuzzis were aplenty at the show here. Some were screened in, some had video monitors and the most popular was a tub by Prestige Spas that featured built-in stereo speakers in each of the unit's four headrests.

Other vendors exhibiting included Lindal Cedar Homes, Hoover central vacuum systems, Andersen Windows, Brinks Home Security, ImproveNet.com, Invisible Fence and Marvin Window Distributors.

Seminars during the Atlanta home show included kitchen planning from the National Kitchen and Bath Association, as well as sessions on interior design, gardening and remodeling. Dean Johnson and Robin Hard of the cable television show Hometime hosted a luncheon as well as a behind-the-scenes look at their weekly program. An auction was held to benefit Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, and Atlanta Magazine was on hand to present "Favorite Rooms by Great Atlanta Designers" as well as a lecture on the Atlanta lifestyle.

The annual Atlanta Garden and Patio Show will be held Feb. 8 to 11 at the Cobb Galleria Centre and the spring Atlanta Home Show will be held March 29 to April 1 at the Georgia World Congress Center.