Looking for shows to apply for 2012, I've seen there are Craft Shows taking place in different Malls year round and I would like to read about other people's experiences in Mall Craft Fairs. I've seen some of them can be 5-6 days and open long hours which could be a problem for me since I do the shows by myself. I make crochet with wire jewelry and crocheted garments and I'm not sure if this would be something worth trying. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Thank you everybody for your help.
I wanted to do a show in Feb but can't find anything until March and then the Mall Craft Shows showed up...
I knew the hours would be a killer for me anyway.
I'm going to park the Mall idea and keep applying to Art & Craft Shows.
Thanks again!
Rockaway and Livingston. You must have done Julie Williams' shows, Woodwill.
I started doing her shows over thirty years ago until I found outdoor art shows.
For anyone interested in doing mall shows. there are no good or bad malls. It depends on who is shopping there that week. People no longer go to malls to shop. More like strip plazas or online. Mall shows are dead.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Woodwill. Now there's a name from the deep recessess of my alleged mind.
I lived about 15 minutes from Rockaway. My mother in law still lives there. I watched that mall get built. And I remember Livingston being this long, narrow 2 story thing.
I did one last mall show last year in Saratoga, New York. You're right the malls are d...e...a...d. For the firat time in over 30 years I didn't sell a thing on Sunday. Because there was nobody there.
Never again.
Going back over thirty years ago. Julie Williams shot herself in the foot by not allowing painters to sell reproductions at her mall shows. Eventually all the painters stopped doing her shows and she had to fill the shows with low end crafts.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
So that's how I got in! I thought it was because of my wonderful personality!
But I gotta admit, when we were accepted, we thought we were big time! We're in a mall!
I take issue that "People no longer go to malls to shop." In my area the malls are packed. It must just depend on where you are.
Though I still wouldn't do a show in one now. I did start in mall shows 20 odd years ago. I believe people are there to shop their favorite stores, and are not interested in looking at anything else, unless you have an impulse item.
"...I take issue that "People no longer go to malls to shop." In my area the malls are packed. It must just depend on where you are..."
Up here there are no malls at all. It's a minimum 1 hour drive to a mall that has Sears at one end and Kmart at the other. And one of those two is gonna go belly up soon.
Issue accepted.
I still go to Ross Park Mall for two reasons. They have an Apple store and a great candy store that my wife loves. But we don't go there more often than two or three times a year. And we go to Pittsburgh Mills because that's where our dog groomer works out of.
Now if Costco's had an art show.....
Larry Berman
Morristown? I grew up in Succasunna. Escaped to the north country years ago.
I did some mall shows (Rockaway, Livingston) a long time ago, and never did well. And if you have small items, especially in that area, you NEED cases. Stuff will walk.
And the hours are killers. Long stretches of sheer boredom followed by 2 hours of teenagers. No thanks, Give me a real show like Chester any day.