QCBR Home Show has a new home – Bend XPO Center

It’s almost showtime for people looking to see the latest trends in home improvements and remodeling. The 2024 Quad Cities Builders & Remodelers Association (QCBR) Home Show will bring those home improvement businesses together Friday through Sunday, Feb. 16-18, at the Bend XPO Center in East Moline. The show hours and admission fees are: Friday, […]

It’s almost showtime for people looking to see the latest trends in home improvements and remodeling. The 2024 Quad Cities Builders & Remodelers Association (QCBR) Home Show will bring those home improvement businesses together Friday through Sunday, Feb. 16-18, at the Bend XPO Center in East Moline. The show hours and admission fees are:

• Friday, Feb. 16, from noon to 8 p.m. $8 admission.
• Saturday, Feb. 17, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. $10 admission.
• Sunday, Feb. 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $10 admission.

Admission is cash only on all days. The annual show is scheduled to feature 225 booths and 115 vendors. Many of the exhibitors at the show represent area businesses involved in the home and home care areas, such as roofing, fireplaces, landscaping, heating and air, and much more. This year will mark another change – and another location – for the Home Show. For many years, the show welcomed visitors to the QCCA Expo Center in Rock Island. In 2023, it made a change and moved to the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport. Last year’s show attracted thousands of visitors with vendors and displays split up between the two buildings – the Fair Center and Iowa Building – at the fairgrounds.

Mona Peiffer, executive officer of the QCBR, said that the fairgrounds had its advantages for the show, but it turned out not to be a perfect site for the group. “It just wasn’t ideal for us. We want to be under one roof….. The Bend is just so nice. I think we’ve found our new home,” she said. Ms. Peiffer said last week that the show’s exhibit space is now sold out; the QCBR has filled all the vendor space.  She added that since the pandemic, many people have been spending more time in their homes, and deciding to do more home remodeling jobs. Those many projects have been keeping many home improvements businesses busy in the past few years.  The home show sponsors include Seiffert Building Supplies, Electric Doctor and Jackson Generator Home Services. Several of the business vendors at last year’s Home Show said the event helped bring in more business leads. “This is a new shot of life for the show,” said Griffin Holden, a territory manager for Culligan Water of the Quad Cities, one of the 2023 QCBR Home Show vendors. “I’ve been busy since the show started. That’s the complete opposite from the past few years. This has been fun.” Some of the new features at the 2024 show will include:

• Student Trades Room – Local and surrounding high schools are busy building benches, chairs, doghouses and more to be auctioned at the Home Show with proceeds going back to the high schools and the QCBR Student Built Home Scholarship Fund.
• Rescue Rooms – Local animal shelters will have adoptable pets available for people to see and hold. The QCBR and sponsors are donating back to these shelters.
• Coat Check – The QCBR has partnered with local kids’ organizations to have a Coat Check. Proceeds from sponsors will help these groups.

The show will also feature live radio remotes on Saturday, Feb 17. Dwyer and Michaels of 97X will broadcast from 10 a.m. to noon, and Leuck and Howe of WLLR will broadcast from to 2 to 4 p.m. “Customers want to meet the businesses they are considering hiring to do work on their homes,” the QCBR said on its website. “They want to look at and feel the products being offered. Whether that’s flooring, siding, roofing, fencing, windows, appliances and more. Our Home Show will offer all of these experiences, plus you can meet the people that will help you finance the beautiful additions and changes to your home.”