HOUSTON – Business owners participating in the Houston Livestock and Rodeo are excited to get things back on track after the rodeo was canceled last year and cut short the year before.
For custom furniture owner Shanna Saunders, the date the rodeo was canceled last year is still engraved in her head.
“March 11, 2020. The stock show was finally having our best day,” Our Stuff Custom Furniture owner Saunders said.
She said it was her birthday and the day COVID shut down the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, resulting in a loss of revenue for her business, which is based in Levelland.
Another business impacted was Dixie Berger’s. The co-owner, Pure Dixie, said it was going to be their first time participating as a vendor in the rodeo and it took them two days to travel from their small town in Wyoming.
“My husband had just flown home to be with the kids, and so, I was by myself and it shut down, and it was incredibly overwhelming to be in a big city,” Pure said.
Now, vendors new and old say they hope eager shoppers will help them make up for what COVID stole the years before.
“I think they’re ready to get out and forget about COVID. Don’t talk about COVID for three weeks. Let’s talk about the rodeo, you know. Let’s have a good time and rodeo,” Saunders said.