Photos from our previous events
Our booths come in 10' x 10’ increments (due to the electrical grid under the floor). 10' X 10’ booths are $240.00 for the weekend. Tables are available in 4’, 6’ & 8’ lengths. Fabric back wall, carpet, electricity and chairs are all available.
The Expo Center has two halls: D & E. Paid entrances are at Hall E and Hall D (front & back of D), so exhibiting in either of the halls is very comparable.
For such a large show, you’ll find that it is a pretty easy show to do. Your badges, floor plan and set-up information are mailed to you two weeks before set-up. Set-up always takes place in two stages: Thursday is ‘drop & go’ day from noon to 6pm. This is your chance to get close to a door for easy unloading, drop your merchandise in your booth and depart. Friday is full set-up and Early Admission day. Hours on Friday for the March & October show is 10am to 6pm. Set-up for the July show takes place as follows: Outside booths start at 8am. Inside booths start at 11am and we close at 7pm. You’ll find that Friday can quite often be as productive as Saturday. There are fewer customers, but they are extremely qualified and can make the difference between a good show and a great show.
Public hours for all shows are Saturday from 9am to 6pm and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Exhibitors are admitted one-half hour prior.
Space location requests: The contracts for the next Portland Expo become available at the previous one (i.e. In July, contracts for the October show are available). We give previous exhibitors a date by which they need to get their contract in to be in the same booth. After that date we assign open space on a contract by contract basis starting with the first received.
Portland Expo Center 2012
March 3rd & 4th
July 14th & 15th
October 27th & 28th
The Showplex Building at the Fairgrounds is a state of the art facility that accommodates 425 booths. Plus daytime parking is free for both exhibitors and attendees!.
Over night parking is $20.00 per night. with electrical hook-up, the charge is $25.00 per night.
For relatively large shows, you'll find that it is a pretty easy show to do. Your badges, floor plan showing your location and set-up information are mailed to you two weeks before set-up. Set-up always takes place in two stages: Thursday is 'drop & go' day from noon to 6pm. This is your chance to get close to a door for easy unloading, drop your merchandise in your booth and depart. Friday is full set-up and Early Admission day. Hours on Friday are 10am to 6pm. You'll find that Friday can quite often be as productive as Saturday. There are fewer customers but they are extremely qualified and can make the difference between a good show and a great show.
Public hours for all shows are Saturday from 9am to 6pm and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Exhibitors are admitted one-half hour prior.
Please feel free to make any Space location requests that you might have. After the deadline for returning exhibitors has passed, we then know what is available. However, the earlier you submit your contract the better opportunity we'll have to fulfill your request. Contracts for the November Puyallup show becomes available in May. Contracts for the February Show become available in November at the November show.
We give previous exhibitors a date by which they need to get their contract in to be in the same booth. After that date we assign open space on a contract by contract basis starting with the first received.
Puyallup
Fairgrounds 2012
February 3rd & 4th
November 10th & 11th
The Antique & Collectible Show at the Clark County Event Center. The dates are January 21 & 22, 2012. Drop & go takes place on Thursday, January 19th with full set up & early admission on Friday, January 20th from 10am to 6pm. Attendance last year was just over 6,500 and the word on the floor was that people were buying! Clark County residents have claimed this show as their own and they’re anxious to spend money in their community. However, we have two markets to draw from and advertise in Portland as well as Vancouver, using The Columbian, The Reflector, The Daily News, The Oregonian, radio stations that work well for us for the Expo, ads on American Pickers, Pawnstars and American Restoration as well as any other programming that relates to collecting. These programs do show our industry in a very intriguing light, which has definitely sparked interest in buying vintage. We have a very active website as well as Facebook & Twitter sites. And, in year seven, we now have a very large email and physical mailing list of people who have attended during those years. We think we’re about to enjoy a resurgence in the industry as long as the trends are noted and we offer the customers what they want today.
Clark County 2012
January 21st & 22nd
The company began in 1974, when Don Wirfs started a monthly Sunday antique flea market at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon.
Christine Palmer was one of his dealers on Sundays, and worked as his office manager during the week. Looking for a site for a two day show, Don launched the Portland Expo Show in October 1981. Called America’s Largest Antique Collectible Show, that first show was a surprise, drawing more than 7,000 people. The show held about 300 booths and included a gypsy fortune teller and a truckload of auto parts among other items. By March 1982 for the second show at the Expo Center, things had changed: gone were the fortune teller and car parts and in their place, an all vintage show came to life. Thirty-some years ago the concept of an event where a customer could see a large quantity of antiques & collectibles under one roof was still in its infancy.
Christine Palmer’s husband Chuck came aboard in 1991 and Don retired in 1992, selling the company to Christine and prompting the name change to Palmer/Wirfs & Associates. Don remains an exhibitor at the three Portland Expo Shows with his vintage children’s books.
The one show at the Expo Center evolved into three per year and remains that way today. The Expo Shows are still considered the company’s flagship events and are the largest on the schedule. The March and October shows are at 1,000 booths and the gargantuan summer show in July holds 1,300 booths by adding 300 outside booths.
In addition to the shows at the Portland Expo Center, two more are produced at the Puyallup Fairgrounds ShowPlex Building in Washington, making it the largest show in the Puget Sound plus an annual show at the Clark County Fairgrounds near Vancouver, Wa. These shows average 300 booths each and carry the same type of inventory.
All of the Palmer/Wirfs shows are a diverse hunting ground and include fine antiques and collectibles up to 1970. The show does not allow any type of flea market booths or garage sale items. A typical stroll down the aisle will show, among other things, slot machines, elegant glass, primitives, furniture, vintage trunks, movie memorabilia, Western Americana, kitchenware, estate jewelry, textiles, original prints, paintings, militaria, advertising, still and mechanical banks, costume jewelry and of course toys from the 1880s to the 1970s. In a nutshell, attractive things that haven’t been made since the 1970s.
Throughout the more than thirty years in business, Palmer/Wirfs & Associates has maintained one goal: To bring buyers and sellers together.
The company prides itself on accomplishing that by creatively spending whatever amount it takes to make that possible including making use of new technology and ensuring that the exhibitors are successful. We feel that a busy show isn’t necessarily a mark of success unless the exhibitors find the right homes for their inventory.
The company’s secondary goal is to make participating in a Palmer/Wirfs show to be a pleasant experience, with every contingency taken care of to ensure the show goes smoothly for the exhibitor.