Seattle, WA – O’Loughlin Trade Shows, Inc. acquired the Northwest Flower & Garden Show from Duane Kelly, who founded the Seattle event and ran it for 21 years.
The sale announced July 1 came in the wake of the sale of the other property run by Kelly’s Salmon Bay Events, the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, to an unidentified group of investors.
Bill O’Loughlin, president of the family-owned Portland organizing company, said the acquisition was timely due to the increasing interest in gardening that traditionally occurs during economic downturns.
“My brothers and our staff are proud to be acquiring the nation’s second-largest flower show and continuing its high quality,” he said.
O’Loughlin also said he anticipated no immediate changes in the event, which covers approximately 275,000 net square feet. The Philadelphia Flower Show, which is considered the largest indoor flower show in the world, is listed at approximately ten acres, or 435,600 square feet of exhibit space.
O’Loughlin Trade Shows’ 12-event portfolio includes the Portland Home and Garden Show and the Tacoma Home and Garden Show. The company also organizes consumer shows in the Pacific Northwest catering to sportsmen and boat and recreational vehicle enthusiasts.
The 2010 Northwest Flower & Garden Show will take place February 3-7 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.
Jeff Swenson was named show manager by O’Loughlin. The show’s incumbent exhibits manager, Linda Knudsen, and Clyde Eldred, the garden and feature manager, moved from Salmon Bay to O’Loughlin as part of the transaction.
Reach Bill O’Loughlin at (503) 246-8291 or billo@otshows.com; Duane Kelly at (206) 618-0664 or dkelly@salmonbay.com
