HoHo Expo continues today with holiday merchandise galore at Chattanooga Convention Center

photo Four-year-old twins Bryson and Blayn Frazier speak with Santa Claus at the expo.

IF YOU GOToday is the last day of the HoHo Expo, which will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Admission and parking is free.

photo Teresa Gravitt, left, and Susan Shankles from Jasper, Tenn., handle plush toys at a vendor booth during the HoHo Expo, presented by the Times Free Press, on Saturday in the Chattanooga Convention Center.
photo Six-month-old Zachary Holoway visits with Santa during the 2014 HOHO EXPO at the Chattanooga Convention Center on Saturday, November 22, 2014.

It was 60 degrees in Chattanooga on Saturday, but the warm temperature outside did not damper the holiday spirit at the HoHo Expo.

The Expo, presented by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, brought the Christmas season to the Chattanooga Convention Center, making holiday shopping easier with 175 vendors offering something for almost everyone on the list.

Poinsettias and scarves, Harley-Davidson leather and stuffed plush penguins were just some of the things shoppers browsed as they held cups of hot apple cider.

"The HoHo Expo helps jump-start vendors into the holiday season," said Angela Doggett, marketing events manager at the Times Free Press, who helped organize the event.

There is no admission fee and parking is free, Doggett said, because the point is for people to come and shop and spend as much as they can with the vendors.

The crowd on Saturday was steady, and organizers expect the same large turnout today.

"Attendees love to shop and our vendors love that," Doggett said.

While moms pushed strollers with canvas bags of purchases slung over their shoulders, kids were able to get pictures taken with Santa, and several dads sat on couches in the corner watching college football.

It's become a tradition for Cindy Romine to attend with her daughter, Katie Kennedy.

The mother and daughter have lived in Chattanooga for years and look forward to the expo every year because of the variety of vendors all gathered in one place.

"We try to shop for Christmas, but that doesn't always happen and we shop for me, too," Kennedy said, smiling at her mom.

Vendor Brianna Hager owns a cake bakery, B's Sweets, at the foot of Signal Mountain.

She was busy delivering cakes around town all day, said her mother, Johanna Hartley, "so she recruited me to help with the booth."

"This expo is a great way for her to get her bakery's name out there," Hartley said. "It is great advertising being here and definitely worth the time."

This was the second year at the expo for Danielle Walker, owner of Southern Sheek Boutique on Hixson Pike.

"Being a new vendor, it is encouraging to see repeat customers and to have people look for my booth," she said.

Shoppers and vendors alike agreed: The event was a success, and it was rare for anyone to leave the expo empty-handed.

Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6592.

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