VW center of highway yard sale madness

Van Wert independent/CVB information

The Van Wert area will soon see visitors from across the United States and most likely a few foreign countries, as well, as we will once again be at the intersection of 2 of the largest yard sales in the nation.  Yard Sale Mania will be in full swing August 4-5-6.

The world-renowned Highway 127 Yard Sale — “The World’s Longest Yard Sale” — stretches from Hudson, Mich., to Gadsden, Ala., a distance of 675 miles.  Along this route shoppers will discover everything from families selling second-hand goods from their yards to professional vendors grouped in central rented spaces selling everything from antiques and regional hand-made crafts to new and used household items, clothing, jewelry, trinkets, collectibles and more.

“I’ve heard that the older portion of the sale route (Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama) is where a lot of the professional vendors headquarter, while true yard sale enthusiasts enjoy shopping the newer portions of the sale route, where the average vendors are families cleaning out attics and basements and putting their unwanted items out in the front yard,” said Van Wert Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Larry Lee.

Lee said he’s optimistic that the hot weather and higher gas prices won’t have a negative impact on this year’s event.

As has been reported, the Van Wert County Fairgrounds will be a major focus of sale activity in the area, but there are some churches along the route (Emmanuel Lutheran, First Presbyterian and North Union United Methodist) that are also making booth space available for vendors who may not live along the highway — or even in the immediate area.

What has really helped put Van Wert in the forefront of all the sales activity is that fact that it is also located along the Lincoln Highway ByWay sale route, which will run from New Jersey to Iowa this year. “This yard sale is continuing to grow nationwide,” Lee said after attending a recent Ohio Lincoln Highway Historic Byway association meeting. “It all started here in Ohio in 2005 and has spread both east and west.

“People taking part in this year’s event in Iowa are working to extend the sale next year into Nebraska,” Lee added. “The economic impact of being located at the intersection of two nationwide sales is enormous.”

Through Internet and magazine advertising, shoppers have been encouraged to make Van Wert their destination for the weekend, Lee said. Local hotels are booked and restaurants and other retailers have always benefited from having so many people in the area.

Change is on the horizon, however. Lee reported that the Lincoln Highway Byway group has agreed to move its sale from the first weekend in August to the second weekend in August, beginning next year.  The CVB director said that, while this may cut down on the number of visitors on a single weekend, it may actually increase the total number of visitors over a two-weekend period as people will have the opportunity to “shop till they drop” twice.

“It will also give local people who may be busy selling one weekend to shop the other and give hotels, restaurants, and other area retailers a chance to have two great weekends of business,” Lee explained.

The challenge for the local Convention and Visitors Bureau to find a way to “box in” the two weeks.  Currently, the CVB encourages people to stay over in Van Wert and enjoy the Saturday Rib Cook-Off that is also held the weekend of the sales. Lee pointed out that surveys of out-of-town yard sale shoppers verify that shoppers will overnight in destinations that provide some sort of relaxation and entertainment.  “Apparently, shopping all day isn’t enough,” Lee said. “They want a place that will welcome them by arranging other activities when the shopping is done.”

That’s a challenge he hopes Van Wert residents and businesses take seriously.