Dozens of businesses took over Capital Mall for the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce's annual Business & Lifestyles Expo on Friday at the Capital Mall.
The chamber moved the event from the Capitol Plaza Hotel to Capital Mall this year because it outgrew the previous event space. Local businesses said the new setting worked well and helped them promote their businesses. Chamber officials also said the event helped businesses reach a new audience.
Randy Allen, president of the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, said about 100 businesses participated in the event Friday afternoon. He also said ticket sales to the chamber's annual Small Business & Employee Award Luncheon were the best the chamber's had in a long time.
"Turnout is great," Allen said. "It's a new venue, so everybody is getting it broken in."
Over its three-decade existence, the Business & Lifestyles expo has gone through many incarnations. It started as a lifestyle show, Allen said, and became a business-to-business marketing expo that was less geared toward members of the public.
Friday afternoon, businesses from across Mid-Missouri were spread out among the mall's three wings. The mall allowed some booths to bring in large items, like cars, that did not fit on the event floor at Capitol Plaza and allowed more businesses to participate. Setting the expo at the mall also allowed businesses to reach consumers they never would've otherwise met.
Curt Fischer, owner of Fischer Body Shop at 2816 W. Main St., stood at a booth hawking T-shirts with his business' name on them next to a dirt-track sprint car that promoted his business. The short carbon-fiber car, which features wings on top and front of the car, attracted the eye of several shoppers throughout the day who started conversations with Fischer.
He said many shoppers, just out at the mall on a Friday afternoon, stopped to say hello.
"They happen to run into this expo at the same time," Fischer said. "I truly believe this was the right idea for them to move it here."
Allen said the chamber wants the event to become more multi-purpose because of the way the changing shift toward a consumer-geared economy.
Richard Fadell, owner of A Rich-er Massage, said the expo helped him reach both audiences. At the event, Fadell gave massages. He said, as a small-business owner who employs himself, it's important he gets to events like this.
To grow his brand among members of the business community and consumers, he tries to get to events like this as often as possible.
"We always meet a lot of people during these events," Fadell said. "They're always a lot of fun, too."
The expo also appeared to draw additional foot traffic to the Capital Mall. A handful of expo attendees drifted into Book World's new, but closing soon, location near the center of the mall. Several attendees also wandered into the new Dunham's Sports, which opened Friday in the mall's B wing.
Allen said for the foreseeable future, the expo will be held at the mall. He likes the symbiotic nature the expo quickly formed with the mall.
"People might have a reason to come out here for this, then realize that there's a store here they want," Allen said. "Usually you do these things in at least three-year cycles."