The swap meet holds three events annually: on Memorial Day weekend, the weekend after Labor Day, and the second week of November.
Chris Schutte, the director of marketing and special events for the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, said the show’s economic impact could “approach $8 million” per year, using state tourism multipliers. “It’s a significant impact,” Schutte said.
According to Schutte, the swap meets and the annual antique shows make the fairgrounds the No. 1 tourism driver in Clark County.
“We look at it as a big draw for Springfield,” Schutte said. “They’re the two primary drivers for the Fairgrounds.”
The swap meet started in 1985 with just 3,000 people, but has grown into the largest swap meet in the central United States, according to Wirth. He added it’s nearly impossible to get a hotel room in Springfield on those weekends, and that several vendors had to book hotel rooms near Fairfield Commons Mall in Beavercreek.
Wirth said the classic car business is huge in the Midwest, making Springfield a perfect location for the swap meet.
He once participated in a focus group for Hot Rod Magazine years ago that used Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and other neighboring states as the center for a test launch of a car magazine, thinking if it doesn’t make it here, it won’t make it anywhere.
“This is just Earth’s center for car collecting,” Wirth said.
The Chamber of Commerce recently gave the swap meet $2,500 worth of convention and visitors bureau grant money to help extend its marketing reach. The money was used to buy additional billboards on I-70. The swap meet is already heavily advertising in magazines and other media outlets, said Wirth, who also runs a classic car advertising firm, Wirth Advertising.
“We definitely highly value that show, and we hope we can help them grow it even more,” Schutte said.
Dick “Hot Dog” Ryman, a local car enthusiast and disc jockey, said he’s been a vendor at the swap meet for years.
“It’s one of those things that gets in your blood,” Ryman said. “You look around, it’s like one big family. It’s like a reunion out here.”
Ryman will spend today and Sunday serving as a disc jockey at the swap meet. He works the local car show scene and said he’s booked through October except for three weekends.
“I try to give the car enthusiasts somewhere to go,” Ryman said.
The treasures, he said, are what keep car enthusiasts throughout the region coming back every year.
“You can find anything you want out here,” Ryman said. “I just sold a zero turn mower.”
The sheer number of classic car-based businesses in Springfield proves the industry is big in Clark County. They include Mershon’s World of Cars, The Early Ford Store, Springfield Rod and Custom and the soon-to-open Grandpa’s Garage, a transportation-based antique store located in the former AAA I-70 Antique Mall.
Grandpa’s Garage, co-owned by Fairborn residents Richard and Linda Butler, will provide different car antiques, like signs and gas pumps, as well as classic cars. The business will give classic car dealers a place to sell different parts and antiques. They’ll open with a cruise-in on June 2.
Linda Butler said she believes the classic car business is fueled by baby boomers who enjoy cars as a hobby.
“They’ve got the time and the money,” Linda Butler said. “It’s a slower pace. They have time to communicate and have a great time with car enthusiasts. We’re providing them a space to come and enjoy looking at cars and parts.”
She said the number of events involving classic cars and muscle cars are further proof it’s a big business in the Miami Valley. “I can’t get over the amount of cruise-ins and car shows in this area,” Butler said. “It’s really amazing.”
Wirth said the fairgrounds is a perfect location for the swap meet because it’s located right off Interstate 70 between Columbus and Dayton. The fact that the fairgrounds has grass and shade trees and is perfectly flat only adds to its functionality for this event.
“You feel welcome and appreciated (by the staff),” Wirth said. “It’s a natural place for us to be.”
Jeff Blevins, the owner of Checkered Racing Chassis in Bedford, Ind., said he’s been coming to the show as both a vendor and customer for 15 years. He goes to shows all over the country, including large shows in Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida.
The show in Springfield is so big, it warrants him renting space for two booths.
“It rates right up there with the best ones,” Blevins said. “They’ve really got something good going here.”
Blevins also said classic car collecting and swap meets are big business.
“The general public doesn’t realize what really goes on at these shows, and the amount of money that changes hands,” Blevins said.
The only problem, said Wirth, who’s been collecting classic cars since childhood, is that he’s too busy to enjoy the show.
“It’s the biggest and best swap meet in the central United States,” Wirth said, “and I never get to see it.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0366 or Michael.Cooper@coxinc.com.
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