Lower turnout expected for annual restaurant show this weekend

The 90th annual National Restaurant Association Show will kick off Saturday at McCormick Place with fewer exhibitors and lower attendance expected than in past years.

Though thousands of exhibitors are scheduled to attend the convention, the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau acknowledged that this year’s gathering will be smaller than in 2008.

“Like many of our conventions that are coming in, [exhibitors] are sending fewer exhibit personnel, and attendees may be attending for fewer days,” bureau spokeswoman Meghan Risch said.

Convention participants corroborated Risch’s assessment Thursday as preparations got under way for the four-day event.

Commercial food-equipment manufacturer Hobart LP, a perennial attendant, did not downsize its booth but did bring less equipment and fewer employees in response to economic pressures, said trade marketing manager Joyce Grooms, who has managed Hobart’s exhibit for eight years.

“I scaled back about 40 percent [on equipment] over last year” to minimize transportation costs, Grooms said.

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