I basically took off the whole fall season from craft shows and opted to try two in December. That may not have been the best choice since they were back to back weekends, and I had the consignment merchandise to stock at Dwelling Spaces.
The Deluxe show in OKC was December 10th. Last year it was great, so I was hopeful it would be again. The only new merchandise I added was the large sized robots and owls, which ended up selling before the show officially started. I had a good supply of Sock Buddies and Softbots and felt owls along with a ton of linocut cards and some new fabric wall hangings. This show was the first with Zoey, and I had recruited help from my husband and MIL for during the show. The booth was packed with baby stuff, like her bassinet, front carrier, blankets, diapers, etc. Crazy! Breast feeding in the middle of a craft show was interesting too, but after childbirth your modesty goes out the window! I did have a classic customer who literally peeked under the nursing cover to see the baby. HELLO. Zoey ended up being really good and taking in all the action. :)
Zoey enjoying the Deluxe show
The show sales ended up being very disappointing. The majority of the sales were my mom's embroidered towels, which she makes on her machine usually to my specifications. They always sell really well at the shows, but since I don't have my own machine we haven't tried to do anything besides towels with them. I would like to do some onesies or other baby items.The Alliday show was the following week in Tulsa. I had decided to share with my friend, Heather, from Audrey Eclectic because we didn't think we'd have enough inventory...haha. I forgot that Zoey took half my booth space! It was very crowded in there, and Heather brought her new puppy too! The adorable factor was irresistible to the customers. ;) However, I'm thinking the cute baby and dog might have detracted from our sales! I wasn't going to make anything new for this show, but I got a wild hair to do some Russian dolls at the last minute! They are super cute. I thought they'd be a big seller, but nothing sold very great except the towels again....
They are for sale on my Etsy site
Every year I have to reevaluate the craft business. Getting ready for the shows is always stressful, and now with the baby it's virtually impossible. The work to profit ratio is dismal. It's more of a socializing thing for me because you can never count on sales. I hope to get the internet sales going this year, somehow, and try to increase inventory at the one store I sell at. Any ideas for online marketing from my savvy readers? ;)
P.S. It literally took me all day to write this one post because Zoey kept interrupting me. Babies...sheesh!
2 comments:
I can't believe someone looked under your cloth! People are amazing sometimes ;)
Well, I thank you SO much for being at Alliday and am floored that none of those Russian dolls sold! They are some of THE cutest things I've seen in a long time!
I'm reevaluating my approach to shows too. Tis the season, eh? ;)
Those babies....they think they run the whole day dont they? ;)
Well Im glad that we got to share a booth together and be neighbors at the show before. I think every show is an opportunity to learn about your product and your customers. Im just glad we can finally relax!
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