McCormick Place Gets Ready To Welcome Back Inspired Home Show After Two-Year COVID Hiatus
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Auto Show is drawing big crowds on day three of the event at McCormick Place.
Up next for the convention center: The Inspired Home Show, formerly known as the Housewares Show, which was been canceled the past two years because of COVID.
CBS 2's Tara Molina is Working for Chicago and reports while things appear to be returning back to normal, there are still plenty of restrictions. They are restrictions some are putting in place as they return for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
The Inspired Home Show kicks off the first week of March, after two years off. You may remember, they were the first major show to cancel in the United States.
Honey Can Do's 500,000 square feet in Berkeley, employing more than 200 people, started as a small booth featuring their storage and organizational goods at the Inspired Home Show in 2008.
"It literally started from there. Those were our initial meetings with a lot of major retailers," said Steve Greenspon, International Housewares Association and CEO of Honey Can Do.
So, it's safe to say CEO Steve Greenspon knows the impact the show has on retailers across the world. Now on the board of the International Housewares Association. He said after two years of forced cancellations, they're excited to be back at McCormick Place this March.
"The Inspired Home Show, otherwise known as the International Home and Housewares Show, is the single largest show held in the city of Chicago on an annual basis," he said.
And it has firm safety measures in place. Regardless of any future changes with the state and the city, they're requiring vendors and guests show proof of vaccination or a negative test result to attend.
"For masks, we're going to follow local protocol," Greenspon said.
With travel restrictions in place, he admitted that some international vendors and visitors will be missing from this first show back.
"Attendees from Asian countries, where we normally have a huge presence at the show, this year that's gonna be way down," he said.
But despite that loss, the expected impact is huge. With the Chicago Auto Show going on right now, a spokesperson for McCormick Place said their calendar is packed.
With 152 events planned and an estimated attendance of $1.6 million and estimated economic impact, for the state and the city, of $1.9 billion.
It's a welcomed boost after major pandemic losses. Since March of 2020, more than 230 events were canceled at McCormick Place, costing the city about 3.4 million attendees and nearly $3.1 billion in economic impact. Greenspon said he's happy to be part of the comeback.
And these shows mean a big boost for downtown hotels, still recovering. According to a spokesperson for McCormick Place, since March 2020, there've been more than 230 cancelled events, costing the city about $3.4 million attendees and nearly $3.1 billion in economic impact.
"We've had a great reopening and things look terrific for the year ahead. Between July and the end of the year, we have had 77 events with almost 675,000 people and economic impact of more than $500 million," said Cynthia McCafferty of Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. "Looking ahead at the calendar year, we have a robust schedule with 152 events, estimated attendance of 1.6 million and estimated economic impact of $1.9 million.
Some of the upcoming shows include the Chicago Dental Society (late February), Star Trek (April), National Restaurant Show (May), and American Society of Clinical Oncology, also known as ASCO, comes in June.
CBS 2 is committing to Working For Chicago, connecting you every day with the information you or a loved one might need about the jobs market, and helping you remove roadblocks to getting back to work.
We'll keep uncovering information every day to help this community get back to work, until the job crisis passes. CBS 2 has several helpful items right here on our website, including a look at specific companies that are hiring, and information from the state about the best way to get through to file for unemployment benefits in the meantime.
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