Ribbon cutting at the Holiday Inn Express.
Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce updated their cover photo.
June 27, 2013 at 7:13 PM ·
Ribbon Cutting at The Holiday Inn Express! Congratulations!!!!!
We would like to extend a warm welcome to all visitors attending the 92nd Annual Red Bluff Round Up! Country singer Neal McCoy will perform at the Pauline Davis Pavilion on Saturday, April 20. A complete schedule of events is available at http://redbluffroundup.com
REDBLUFFROUNDUP.COM
Red Bluff Round-Up: Tickets
Visitors boost local economy
By JULIE ZEEB -DN Staff Writer Red Bluff Daily News
Updated:
RedBluffDailyNews.com
While the annual Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale netted $1.2 million in 2012, its reach is felt throughout the community.
On Thursday, a woman counting people as they entered the sale reported she had counted 1,200 just between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. that day.
The Bull Sale has a tremendous impact to the Red Bluff and Tehama County economies, said Red Bluff- Tehama County Chamber of Commerce CEO Dave Gowan.
Our chamber is very busy throughout the week with visitor information about what to do in our area, places to go and things to see along with information about our restaurants, lodging and businesses.
Many visitors come from all over the western part of America just for this week. We love it.
The Palomino Room, recently reopened after a remodel at 723 Main St., has benefited from the visitors.
The two biggest events of the year are Bull Sale and the Red Bluff Round-Up Rodeo and New Year's is the only time of the year the business opens the upstairs portion in preparation for the extra guests, General Manager Tammy Leak said on Friday.
We're always extremely busy at the Bull Sale, but we absolutely love it, Leak said.
It's a great group of people that come in here to have a good time and they travel from all over. Last night we had people from Canada, Texas, Montana and Idaho come in.
Part of what people love is the good food and the country music or swing bands playing all night, she said.
It helps everyone locally, Leak said. It helps us pay our bills and employees, it brings extra people in, which means there are more people in Red Bluff able to earn extra money.
On Thursday, the Palomino Room and Holiday Inn Express and Suites Red Bluff, at 2810 N. Main St., teamed up to host a meet and greet for those in town for the Bull Sale with goodies from the Palomino's newest employee, Eric Ellingson, who specializes in Texas style barbecue.
Eric was a huge help with our meet and greet, said Holiday Inn Express and Suites General Manager Tess Tilev.
Tilev is no stranger to Red Bluff, despite the Holiday Inn being less than a year old, or the hotel industry, as she worked for Hampton Inn and Suites in Red Bluff for six years and the Hilton hotel chain for 13 years prior to that, she said.
The meet and greet was a way to introduce those visiting to some of what Red Bluff has to offer, including the use of Sierra Nevada Brewery and several local wineries at the event, Tilev said.
The Bull Sale affects the economy because it gives it a huge boost, Tilev said. Every time we have a guest it affects the Red Bluff economy because they stop for gas, go out to eat, buy a swimsuit at Walmart or a local boutique to use our pool or jacuzzi. We have been very busy. We're full like everyone else all week.
The hotel, which has been open for five months, is No. 1 in the Northern California market and 22 in the national market for the chain.
Since opening it has had guests from places like Slovakia and Germany, she said.
Close to 60 percent of the hotel's travelers have said they used websites to find the Red Bluff hotel, Tilev said.
We're able to fill our 80 rooms (this week) in part because Holiday Inn Express has a strong brand and priority club with people willing to travel 20-30 miles out of their way to stay, Tilev said.
Red Bluff's a great location because it's the halfway point in California to Oregon and Washington.
Mary Jayne Eidman, owner of Discover Earth at 645 Main St., is entering her fifth year of welcoming Bull Sale attendees and consignors, she said.
We're very excited to celebrate our fifth year, Eidman said. The part I enjoy the most about Bull Sale is the visitors from out of state that return to the Bull Sale year after year and always shop downtown. They become old friends that you look forward to seeing.
The shop has done so well it is in the process of preparing to move next door to 635 Main St., Eidman said.
We are busting at the seam with great American made products and are expanding and moving next door on March 1, Eidman said.
We will be able to have more garden, American made baby products and education toys plus a huge new bath and body area.
Down the street, Joanne Ehorn of Ehorn's Antiques and More, 629 Main St., who has been in business with her husband for 11 years, has had plenty of extra shoppers this week, she said.
The Bull Sale is definitely good for our town and it seems like every year it gets bigger, Ehorn said. I've had customers from Sacramento, Oregon and Washington this week.
A few blocks away at 501 Madison St., Kit Reynolds, who with her husband Paul owns both Reynolds Ranch and Farm Supply and The Loft, celebrates more than 20 years of welcoming Bull Sale participants.
In addition to the store on Madison, Reynolds has a space at the Bull Sale trade show near the Don Smith Pavilion.
We've been coming to the Bull Sale for 20 years, Reynolds said. Back when we started, it was in a portable shed barn by the racetrack.
It's been a good week for us.
The couple has owned the farm supply store for 23 years, building the area occupied by The Loft in 1991, she said.
I'm always sending people to the store in town and hopefully they'll check out the local businesses and restaurants, Reynolds said. I try to give them something to do.
Across the street from the Tehama District Fairgrounds is Angi Garcia- Marshall's store, Heartstrings and Love Knots Boutique, in the Frontier Village Shopping Center.
The store has been open not quite a year.
As of Friday, there had not been a noticeable increase in traffic despite the recent expansion to what are now permanent hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
We have seen a ton of trailers heading into the fairgrounds, Garcia- Marshall said. We do have tickets to Saturday night's event and will be promoting our business and handing out cards while we're there.
Now that we are open all week, we are very hopeful of seeing more customers.
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Staff Writer Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115, or at jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com
Follow Julie on Twitter @DN_Zeeb
This video was filmed completely in our hotel. Up and coming YouTube artist JSD and Kalynne Schoelen. Both are local Red Bluff residents.
YOUTUBE.COM
Diamonds (Remix) - JSD x Kalynne Schoelen | 409th Division
We at Holiday Inn Express would like to welcome all the vendors, buyers, and guests who are coming to town for the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale this week.
