This last weekend I did the Butchertown Art Fair in Louisville, KY. I know I should always visit first, but I got rejected from the show I planned on doing and needed an alternative. I did a little research and it sounded like a good show. Plus, I figure if I'm going to incur the travel expense, I might as well do the show while I'm there.
Butchertown is a nice upscale neighborhood close to downtown. It has a lot of character. We were set up on a residential street just off the main drag, in front of cute row houses. It was well organized, and they gave us delicious scones & muffins for breakfast both days. The booth allotments were spacious, probably about 12-13 feet wide. The weather was beautiful -- a little warm, but I certainly can't complain. There seemed to be a nice mix of artists, and not overly saturated with jewelry. The traffic was good. It should have been a perfect show.
There was only one problem: The crowd was overwhelmingly just lookers. Part of it may have been me. I'm new there, and don't have a customer base. I changed my display. I'm sure those were both factors. However, I probably saw only about 20 people all weekend carrying a purchase. (Although a few more probably had one of Robin Chard's rings on their finger!) The beer and food vendors were doing a great business! The artists, not so much. As one artist put it, it was like we were animals in the zoo!
If I had a dollar for every compliment I received, I would have a great show. Unfortunately compliments don't pay the bills.
Saturday went from 10-7, and by the end of the day I had two sales for just under $50. Following some good advice from Robin (Thanks, Robin!), I changed my display on Sunday and put the cheaper stuff up front and the display cases in the back. The crowds were not as heavy on Sunday, and the hours were shorter (11-5), but I salvaged it enough to make my booth fee. (Lesson learned!) That still didn't cover my expenses. Sadly, I'm sure there were many artists who didn't even make their booth fee.
I found out they had doubled the number of booths this year, which theoretically cuts potential sales per artist in half. Also the show happened to coincide with a monthly flea market nearby which seemed to be where most of the crowd was coming from. And lastly, there was some big event going on that weekend in conjunction with the Belmont Stakes. They got enough money from the booth fees, they should have been doing some advertising. I'm guessing from the crowd that they did advertise, although apparently not to the right people.
Like I said, I want to love Butchertown, but I don't think I can justify the travel expense to do it again. I did meet some other artists though. And I'm still hoping that maybe I'll hear from one or more of the people who took my cards.
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Maybe that was what the problem was with the crowd, along with the other things. Congratulations on your sales!
I was at Butchertown also. I knew some of you Art Fair Insiders were there, and even went around asking other artists if they were on AFI, since I couldn't remember who among us said they were coming. Guess I didn't ask the right people!
It was a pretty good show for me and I will come back. It took me all day Saturday to figure out who my customers were, but Sunday morning I made some changes to my set up that made my items more accessible to people, and saw good results. Usually I have a "glass" display case for my jewelry, as well as two hanging display boards. The display case serves to add perceived value to my work as well as protecting it. At this show, however, it served as a barrier to customers. I don't know if it was because of the average age, income level, or any other demographics, or if these people just need to touch stuff! When I took down the barrier people had no problem handling, trying on, and purchasing. So, good learning for me.
I was there also, across from Robin. Saturday was okay, not stellar, but I had a couple of decent sales and some small ones to get within a few bucks of $400. Low by most standards but I had no lodging expenses and the booth fee was low. Sunday was strange, like the church goers must have gone to a church picnic after church and the Saturday night revelers didn't wake up until 4:00PM. Whatever happened, the crowds were way down and down by half. A metal sculptor reported $2500 in sales, and a painter close to me only sold a small reproduction piece. I sold two small cheap plastic framed pieces for $35 on Sunday that I had to knock $5 off to get that. The customer's mother was there alongside here and was asking if I would take $30. I ignored her ;-)
The jury had a mixed bag of good and not-so-good work in the show. I don't know if tightening up the quality will help. There is potential there and I will probably try it one more time. I didn't expect great things from the show, but it was better than I expected overall. I would have liked to see the customer on Saturday come back on Sunday that came into the booth three times and was contemplating an $800 purchase. Given that the entire family was enthused with the work and were discussing where to place the pieces was a good sign, but Sunday came and went and neither did they. I did walk away with a little profit which is more than the last three weekends that were plagued with cold and rain, and I lost beaucoup bucks. It didn't rain, it was warm, and I was in the shade for the most part. Here's hoping the rain stays away at Talbott Street this coming weekend.
Too bad I didn't know you were there, I would have stopped by to meet you! I would definitely try it again if I didn't have the travel expenses. Maybe you will still hear from that family, you never know. Good luck at Talbott!
I received an email from Butchertown asking for feedback yesterday. I mentioned the spotty quality of work and suggested tighter jurying next year. I also mentioned this website and recommended they join the promoters group here.
I did the survey also and gave them good ratings except for sales. I mentioned that they must have advertised the art fair, but maybe they weren't advertising it to the right market.