Business better than fair

Anyone who wanted to buy a spa, a personalized wood sign and garlic

seasoning without having to drive all over town could have pulled off

that very trifecta at the Orange County Fair.

This year’s fair came to a close Sunday, marking the end of

another July filled with pig races, carnival rides and concerts. The

end of the fair also marks the time for merchants to pack up and move

on.

This year, fair organizers found space for more than 300 business,

said Tommie Fomby, the fair’s manager of concessions and commercial

exhibits. The lineup included 221 commercial exhibitors, 73 food

concessions and 30 other vendors who are part of the Orange County

Marketplace as well as the fair. About 10 fair sponsors also sold

items throughout the fairgrounds, said Mark Entner, the fair’s

director of event sales and services.

Also on the slate were 10 businesses Fomby called “independent

amusements,” which were companies selling experiences such as

elephant rides.

One of the businesses that participates in the fair and

marketplace is Delmar Morton’s Pacific Redwood Sign Co. Morton makes

personalized wood signs and said he started selling them at the

Orange County Fair five years ago.

Morton, who lives in the Central California city of Clovis, said

he used to travel from fair to fair when he started out, but getting

married and starting a family meant less time for traveling. Still,

he makes the trek from Clovis to Costa Mesa for the fair and

occasional visits to the marketplace.

“Obviously, money calls. You’ve got to make a business,” Morton

said.

Near the center of the fairgrounds, two areas -- the Carnival of

Products and the Parade of Products -- were like a suburban bazaar.

Merchants hawked telescoping flag poles, cookware and hammocks.

If that wasn’t enough, fairgoers could browse selections of

Hawaiian T-shirts, Native American-style jewelry and garlic.

Where the people are

As of Friday, fairgoers bought about $48,000 worth of garlic

items, said Lee Jensen, national sales director for the Gilroy-based

Garlic Festival Store.

Working near several jars of garlic products, Jensen said his

company has booths at 325 shows across the country. Traveling

salesmen sell at fairs, home-and-garden shows and “anywhere where

there’s a lot of people.”

The Garlic Festival Store sells its goods at shows and through the

Internet and mail order, Jensen said.

His duties include a circuit that takes him from Seattle to San

Diego to Salt Lake City, but he said he doesn’t mind the travel.

“When you’re making really good money and your customers are

happy, it makes it pretty easy,” Jensen said.

More money changed hands at L.A. Spas’ exhibit, which was near the

fair’s main entrance. National show manager Don McIver said about 120

spas were sold as of Friday, which adds up to about $800,000 worth of

business.

An average spa retailer sells between 30 and 40 spas each month,

McIver said. With more than 800,000 people having visited the fair by

Friday, a lot of people had a chance to look at hot tubs.

“It’s a good way to expose your products, a good way to promote

them,” McIver said.

Fomby said the fair does not keep track of how much money most of

the businesses make. Vendors selling items such as sandals or pirate

flags simply pay their rent without having to report their sales to

fair organizers.

Food is a different story. The fair receives a percentage of food

and soft drink sales.

As of Wednesday, fairgoers had purchased about $7 million worth of

hot dogs, fried candy bars and other goods, Fomby said. This year,

food sales were up by about 15% compared to 2004.

No money worries

Alcohol sales added more cash to the till. Through Wednesday,

fairgoers had downed about $2 million worth of beer, wine and

spirits.

The restaurant business this year was “absolutely phenomenal,”

said Bill Birkhead, a general manager for Ovations Food Services, the

company that manages the fair’s Baja Blues restaurant.

Birkhead said Baja Blues benefited from this year’s avocado theme

and sold as many as 400 deep-fried avocadoes in one day. Sales, he

said, were 300% above 2003 levels.

“We’re in Orange County. People aren’t really worried about

spending money,” Birkhead said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624.