For visitors walking among the crowded aisles of the Ho-Ho Expo, Grady Cheek's booth stood out because it looked like someone dumped dinner scraps on his table.
Cheek, from Salisbury, N.C., has been selling his product, Super Peelers, at the Ho-Ho Expo since it started four years ago.
His booth is one of 182 at the expo - put on by the Chattanooga Times Free Press - that gives Chattanooga and area shoppers a wide variety of holiday shopping choices in one location.
Of course, Santa is on hand to hear children's whispered Christmas wishes.
The expo continues today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Last year the expo saw 7,000 people over the two-day period. At 3 p.m. Saturday, 5,000 people had already walked through the doors.
Cheek said sales were great. He didn't know how many peelers he'd sold Saturday afternoon because he hadn't stopped to count yet, but he thought he had about 60 left. He spotted a potential customer looking at the table full of half-peeled potatoes and skinless cucumbers.
"I don't know if I got anything left," he said, rummaging through his cooler for a vegetable for her to peel. He found a tomato and held it out, telling the woman to shake the peeler back and forth. The skin came right off.
"Oh, wow," she said. She eventually bought one for $10. Cheek believes in his product, and he said he uses it all the time. On Thursday he made some homemade cole slaw with it.
"One of my best friends gave me one of these 21 years ago," he said, holding up the peeler. "Then my mother took it. She never took nothing from me she didn't give back. But she wouldn't give that thing back to me."
Two decades later, Cheek goes around the country showcasing his peelers made of Swiss steel.
The booths around him were selling a variety of items - candles, cupcakes and knives - and that's what Emily and Sarah Garrett like about the expo.
Emily knew a vendor and Sarah learned about the expo on Facebook, so they decided to drive from Soddy-Daisy to check it out. Emily's favorite thing she got was a wire cutter for her husband.
Sarah saw a vest earlier she liked, walked around to mull it over and then made the decision - she was getting that vest.
"I'm about to get it right now," Sarah Garrett said. "That's going to be my favorite thing."
Contact staff writer Evan Hoopfer at ehoopfer@timesfreepress.com or @EvanHoopfer on Twitter or 423-757-6731.