The gym at the Friends Center on 18th Street in Portsmouth was bustling with vendors, merchandise, browsers and shoppers Saturday morning.

“This is our Merchant Expo,” Janet Williams, manager of Volunteer Services at Southern Ohio Medical Center said. “This normally was last weekend when we used to have it at Holly Days with the trees and so forth. This is now part of the Train Show.”

Williams said there is a large variety of displays for people to see.

“We have crafters here. We have merchandisers here. This is a new thing to us having it this weekend and I hope we all do well with it,” Williams said. “We’ve got candles and jewelry and colognes and decorative items and florals. We’ve got the Gift Gallery Gift Shop here. We’ve got Longaberger, Pampered Chef, Tupperware. We’ve got primitives, purses, we just have a wide array of everything.”

Nancy Ross was giving out samples of coffee she says has a special quality.

“I have fat-burning coffee,” Ross said. “And when you drink the coffee your fat cells will shrink. And you will be amazed. I’ve already lost and-inch-and-a-half, my sister has lost two inches. We’ve been on it about six or seven weeks. So we’re happy with it.”

Ross also sells body-building materials she says will open up blood vessels.

“My sister and I are both taking it because we have Alzheimer's in our family,” Ross said. “And what we’ve read about it we believe this will help us.”

Ross said she can be reached at (740) 354-1187, (740) 357-7916 or at www.igetpaidtodrinkcoffee.com/nancyross.

Joyce Howard of Wheelersburg was surrounding by bright colors and pastels.

“We’re selling hair bows, headbands, hats and tutu’s,” Howard said. “It’s for young kids. It’s for babies, little girls, through ten years old.”

Howard is prepared for the holiday.

“We’ve got Christmas bows, and we’ve got Christmas hats and headbands.”

When you approach the Bauble Junction display, you are immediately taken by the colorful rocks and beads that go into the hand-created jewelry line by Toni Biter. No two items in her collection are alike.

“We’ve got an RV and we travel a lot. So any place I go I find beads. And I try and find unique beads,” Biter said. “And then after that I just look at the bead and I figure out what it needs to be a bracelet, a necklace or whatever, and I make it.”

Her line is viewable at www.baublejunction.com.

The Merchant Expo continues today from noon until 4 p.m. in the Gym adjacent to the SOMC Life Center.