Two months after Marketplace Events was acquired by Sentinel Capital Partners, the show organizer scooped up Calgary Homexpo from the nonprofit CHBA-UDI Calgary Region. 

The company also announced the launch of six new shows in the 2016-17 show season, including shows at the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., and Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn. 

"It’s a very exciting time for Marketplace Events," said Tom Baugh, Marketplace Events' CEO.  "We are well positioned for growth, and under Sentinel’s ownership, we are able to be more aggressive in acquiring and launching shows in the home improvement sector." 

The Calgary acquisition, to be renamed the Calgary Renovation Show, will take place Jan. 13-15 next year at the BMO Centre.

It will be the third home show in the market operated by Marketplace Events, which also produces shows in February and September at the same facility. 

"Our organization has proudly presented this show for more than 40 years," said CHBA-UDI Calgary Region Association CEO Donna Moore. 

She added, "We know the show and our members will be in good hands with Marketplace Events, a top producer, whose standards of excellence mirror our own. The multi-day event served our members well, however, those companies which took advantage of the marketing opportunities Homexpo provided will benefit further from working with North America's largest home show producer. It is the primary focus of their business."  

The six launches include four markets where the company already operates and two shows in new markets, including Nashville and Richmond, Va.  

The Nashville Home + Remodeling Expo will run March 10-13 at Music City Center, and the Richmond Home + Remodeling Expo will run Feb. 10-12 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.  

The four in-market launches include two events at the new, state-of-the-art U.S. Bank Stadium, home to the Minnesota Vikings, to be completed in July of this year.  

The all new Minneapolis Home + Remodeling Show will run annually in January starting in 2017 and a Holiday event will take place in November on the stadium’s concourse level. 

The company’s flagship event, the Minneapolis Home + Garden Show, runs in this market in February at the Minneapolis Convention Center and is now in its 82nd year. 

Also included are new fall home shows in Kansas City, Kan. and Oklahoma City, Okla., where the company already produces spring home shows.

"We are excited to expand our footprint in all six of these terrific markets.  In particular, the Music City Center and U.S. Bank Stadium are extraordinary new structures where competition for show dates is intense,” Baugh said. “Marketplace Events is honored to have been selected by these venues to produce major Q1 shows.”
    
In the last two years, Marketplace Events also completed three acquisitions: two home shows in Winnipeg from the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association (MHBA) in 2015; two shows in Raleigh, N.C., from American Consumer Shows (ACS) in 2014; and a show in Edmonton, AB from Young Marketing Services in 2014.

In all, the company now produces 47 shows annually in 23 markets including: 31 home shows in the US, 14 home shows in Canada and two Holiday Boutiques.