As Al McNeil launches into his sales pitch, the women can’t help but stop to watch and listen.
He draws on the floor with crayon, scuffs it with a shoe and then uses his wet mop – no cleaning liquid required – to clean it up.
And for about $40 the bystanders can take this amazing product home with them.
Many do.
It’s not uncommon to see people, especially women, wandering the Western Canada Farm Progress Show with mop in hand, even though they could certainly buy cheaper ones at a retail store.
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At any trade show there will be several booths offering mops; the same company might own more than one type.
McNeil works for Select Home Products, which has half a dozen booths at the Regina show.
“People like things with handles,” he said to explain the mop phenomenon. “I’ve never gone to a show and not sold one.”
Based in Vancouver, he’s been working the Canadian trade show circuit for 31/2 years.
The mops he’s hawking this year are micro-fibre and don’t need cleaning chemicals to do the job. McNeil thinks those who clean their own house like that.
“It’s a new way of cleaning,” he said.
“We’ve been into this new age stuff for about eight years. People are more health conscious.”
Down the aisle and around the corner, another booth promotes micro-fibre cloths. Further along is one demonstrating mops that shoot water into the mop head.
The competition is fierce but friendly.
“We stay in the same hotels. We all barbecue together.”
The circuit, or circus as he calls it, runs in a cycle of spring and fall home shows and summer fairs. McNeil’s trip to Regina was the first after six weeks off.
He said it’s a whole different lifestyle but he likes the travelling and the camaraderie of those in the business.
