Lakeland, FL Collectorama Show report
BaltimoreCoinConv
Posts: 153
As we anticipated, public attendance was down considerably at the Lakeland,
Florida Collectorama Coin and Currency Show. But those that did attend
came to do business and overall the show was pretty darn good for most of
the dealers. Even with all the devastation (and the Lakeland/Bartow/Lake
Wales area got hit pretty hard) public attendance was still over 1100 (maybe
as high as 1200) and most dealers said they had a very good show there.
A couple dealers said it was their best Collectorama Show ever, and one
dealer said it was the strongest Sunday he had ever had there).
Needless to say the most common topic being discussed was hurricane
damage and it appears that no part of Florida was spared, with the exception
of maybe the Florida Keys. But perhaps even more devastating than the
physical damage for the folks in Florida will be the long term economic damage
to businesses all across Florida. It will take years for many small businesses
(including coin shops) to recover from almost two months of not being able to
do any real business. There is still a lot of damage recovery going on in many
parts of Florida and there are still areas around the state without power or
running water. At least two coin shops had their roofs ripped off, and a brand
new coin shop in Punta Gorda (opened three weeks before Charley) was
completely destroyed.
But the attitude of the dealers, collectors and investors was positive and
there
was a lot of good business going on at Collectorama. Will try to run some more
show statistics as they become available.
Ed Kuszmar
Florida Collectorama Coin and Currency Show. But those that did attend
came to do business and overall the show was pretty darn good for most of
the dealers. Even with all the devastation (and the Lakeland/Bartow/Lake
Wales area got hit pretty hard) public attendance was still over 1100 (maybe
as high as 1200) and most dealers said they had a very good show there.
A couple dealers said it was their best Collectorama Show ever, and one
dealer said it was the strongest Sunday he had ever had there).
Needless to say the most common topic being discussed was hurricane
damage and it appears that no part of Florida was spared, with the exception
of maybe the Florida Keys. But perhaps even more devastating than the
physical damage for the folks in Florida will be the long term economic damage
to businesses all across Florida. It will take years for many small businesses
(including coin shops) to recover from almost two months of not being able to
do any real business. There is still a lot of damage recovery going on in many
parts of Florida and there are still areas around the state without power or
running water. At least two coin shops had their roofs ripped off, and a brand
new coin shop in Punta Gorda (opened three weeks before Charley) was
completely destroyed.
But the attitude of the dealers, collectors and investors was positive and
there
was a lot of good business going on at Collectorama. Will try to run some more
show statistics as they become available.
Ed Kuszmar
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