Craft Show #3: Liberty
Nov. 21st, 2009 08:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gonzaiMaybe I should be negative a lot more often.
After several days of convincing myself this show couldn't possibly work out well, I dragged myself out of bed at 4am, having not slept a wink, somehow managed to wake Mom and we set out at 5:15am. Arrived at 6:15am to discover no helpers. Of any sort. I hauled everything in myself. Turned out the space wasn't all that far from the entrance and the only real obstacle was the big honkin' pothole in front of the loading ramp. That was tricky. To our benefit, the bathroom was about 25 feet from my stand. A big help as I had coffee for the first time in months! Managed to get loaded in and set up in just 90 minutes, so Mom shopped until the show started at 9am. At least I think it started. No one came by until almost 9:30. It was darn quiet in there. When people did start coming, they didn't buy. I began to panic.
At 10am, all heck starting breaking loose. That is, buyers by the dozen, many paying by check and some requesting ornaments that I just could not find despite knowing roughly where they were. Then a steady stream of people all day, most buying multiple items. Some oddball requests: Oklahoma, Iowa, Michigan State, Cincinnati, I had them all. Also was able to help the person who wanted the San Diego Chargers and the Detroit Lions. There's a combo. The stream didn't end until after 2pm. When said and done, I sold just two plaques and no animal items; but still managed to have the second best show I've ever had. Period. Convention or show. In fact, I probably did more than that, but getting time to write down sales was tough. (And I have a LOT of restocking to do before the next show.) Unfortunately, I wound up loading out by myself as well, a student did lend a hand towards the end even though she wasn't assigned to help our area. I've already signed up for next year's show (half price if you registered today, works for me!)
After several days of convincing myself this show couldn't possibly work out well, I dragged myself out of bed at 4am, having not slept a wink, somehow managed to wake Mom and we set out at 5:15am. Arrived at 6:15am to discover no helpers. Of any sort. I hauled everything in myself. Turned out the space wasn't all that far from the entrance and the only real obstacle was the big honkin' pothole in front of the loading ramp. That was tricky. To our benefit, the bathroom was about 25 feet from my stand. A big help as I had coffee for the first time in months! Managed to get loaded in and set up in just 90 minutes, so Mom shopped until the show started at 9am. At least I think it started. No one came by until almost 9:30. It was darn quiet in there. When people did start coming, they didn't buy. I began to panic.
At 10am, all heck starting breaking loose. That is, buyers by the dozen, many paying by check and some requesting ornaments that I just could not find despite knowing roughly where they were. Then a steady stream of people all day, most buying multiple items. Some oddball requests: Oklahoma, Iowa, Michigan State, Cincinnati, I had them all. Also was able to help the person who wanted the San Diego Chargers and the Detroit Lions. There's a combo. The stream didn't end until after 2pm. When said and done, I sold just two plaques and no animal items; but still managed to have the second best show I've ever had. Period. Convention or show. In fact, I probably did more than that, but getting time to write down sales was tough. (And I have a LOT of restocking to do before the next show.) Unfortunately, I wound up loading out by myself as well, a student did lend a hand towards the end even though she wasn't assigned to help our area. I've already signed up for next year's show (half price if you registered today, works for me!)
