Milwaukee snow show is no more

indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
Snowmobile USA just announced they’re done with the show at the Milwaukee location due to a lack of vendors. With Kens Sports leaving the show and doing their own a few years ago, that kind of put the final nail in the coffin. Sad for area snowmobilers but the writing was on the wall unfortunately. I remember back to being a kid in my early teens counting down the days because I was so excited to go!
 
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Hoosier

Well-known member
These shows used to be great but it can't be economical to move gear and toys there anymore compared to clearing things out on the internet...
 
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harvest1121

Well-known member
The busiest place was Highlands Yamaha they closed last year, They told me they received complaint from other vendors because they actually had deals. Manufactures were not shipping them enough apparel because all of the complaints from other dealers.
 
lofsfire

lofsfire

Active member
harvest1121 said:
The busiest place was Highlands Yamaha they closed last year, They told me they received complaint from other vendors because they actually had deals. Manufactures were not shipping them enough apparel because all of the complaints from other dealers.
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I heard the same thing from Highlands. And as I said yesterday in the Heydays cost cost of booth space...
 
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euphoric1

Well-known member
lofsfire said:
I heard the same thing from Highlands. And as I said yesterday in the Heydays cost cost of booth space...
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thats no lie either, I used to work at the con-ex show at state fair park, booths were expensive then and if you wanted electrical at your booth it was astronomical to have a "highly specialized person" come open the trap door on the floor and plug the cord in. Besides going with riding buds, my fond memories of it were from when I first started taking my son riding at age 4 and took him to snow show, the big excitement was finding all the snowmen, he always looked forward to it when he was younger, snow show was a lot cheaper on me when he was younger too LOL
 
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matti

Active member
I used to go to a few big trade shows in my profession (nothing to do with snowmobiles!) and the cost of booths was crazy. I can't imagine how much higher they are today!
 
hermie

hermie

Active member
I guess not too many union guys on this site. Yeah how dare someone stick up for the working blue collar class.
 
pclark

pclark

Well-known member
hermie said:
I guess not too many union guys on this site. Yeah how dare someone stick up for the working blue collar class.
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Let me clarify, not against hard working people, union or non, I'm just pointing out that the companies that run these trade show venues are union and they rape the vendors for that booth space, and add on's for the booths as well as freight. You can't work on your booth until they deliver your stuff to the booth location if you have things shipped to the venue. Thats why these shows are are going away, MFG's and Vendors have seen enough.
 
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switch07

Member
Back in the old days, the AWSC would hold the fall convention in Oconomowoc and it was combined with the Snow Show! Now those were some good times! Hospitality rooms galore, seminars and the snow show! Spend the whole weekend there and have a blast! Once that stopped and the show went to the fairgrounds, it just wasn’t the same! Got too big, greed set in and now it imploded! Long for the good old days!!!
 
dfattack

dfattack

Well-known member
pclark said:
Let me clarify, not against hard working people, union or non, I'm just pointing out that the companies that run these trade show venues are union and they rape the vendors for that booth space, and add on's for the booths as well as freight. You can't work on your booth until they deliver your stuff to the booth location if you have things shipped to the venue. Thats why these shows are are going away, MFG's and Vendors have seen enough.
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Same thing happened in Chicago. Union “rules” made having trade shows cost prohibitive to have there. Now what? Less shows. Less shows means less “specialized” people to plug in extension cords. That’s the consequence.
 
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wiviperman

Active member
I have to say that I’m definitely NOT surprised that the Milwaukee Show is done. It has been declining for years!
I have attended that show for years, back in the day before the new building it took up multiple buildings and there were so many deals to be had!
Once the new building was introduced it seemed as though it was maybe half the size that it was, the deals pretty much kept getting fewer & farther in between & then basically every vendor worth anything pulled out.
Sad, but it is what it is!
The West Bend show is great…I wish that I didn’t have to miss that one this year but other commitments have me having to skip it.
 
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wisco-mb

Active member
I attended Wide Open WI on Saturday. It was my first time and was a great day! Turn out seemed ok, but nothing crazy. I got to see a lot of friends from the association, local clubs, and some other forum friends. The safety classes were well attended. Good to see that! I helped in the AWSC booth for a couple hours.
The swap had some decent deals. Couple buddies of mine from a local dealer have swapped at hay days for a 15 year or so. They said this was their last time going there. WOW was a perfect setup and very cheap! And much closer!
Overall the buildings and grounds were pretty clean and updated.
Due to low water levels, they cancelled the watercross demonstrations. My boy still loved the stunt show they put on!
I feel it will grow every year.
 

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