Forum

I want to give an update on what is going on and it will be my last installment on this topic.

I have been accepted into the antique/vintage/unique mall where I applied for a booth!  Yay!  I actually heard from them on Thursday I think.  They seem anxious to get me in before the next weekend they are open, which is this coming weekend.  Yikes!

This place is open on the first and third weekends of each month.  They have scheduled days they are open for the booth operators to go in and work on their booth.  This week, the only available days is Monday and Tuesday, due to meetings during the week.

I cannot go tomorrow because we are too short staffed at our store for dh to get away.  We have an employee who was called for jury duty.  She is hoping to get dismissed because she wants/needs to work.  Yes, it's a civic duty but she is the main bread winner for her family.  If she is actually called upon to serve, we will be delayed a week which means we miss this month, totally.

If she is dismissed, we will leave Tuesday morning and go for the day.  We will return home on Tuesday when we get the booth set up.  We expect it to take several hours since we have a bit of a different approach to this.

We must have a corner booth because we have 2 walls.  We can actually put stuff on the walls.  I am planing on hanging some of my wall art, which is some resin medallions I picked up and repainted, and aged with wax.  Also, I have an old ceiling tin that was painted an UGLY mauve color and attached to a wood frame.  I have repainted the tin and distressed and aged it.  I also have some empty frames I painted out that can get hung too.  This part alone is very different from the show booths we have, where there is no permanent wall space.

I am taking decorative shelving to display small pieces of upcycled and vintage home decor.  We will also have a vintage trunk that i for sale but also a display piece.  We will have some vintage tables I painted for sale and to display as well.  Our trailer will have much more in it than what will fit in the booth.  That way I can pick and choose what I want to go in.

I spent a good bit of time this afternoon getting some thing priced and a price list going.  I will have to enter items and prices in their system when I get there and see what we will use.

I will be keeping this booth for the foreseeable future in addition to the 4 shows I have scheduled, each of which is a 3 day show.  So my production schedule has accelerated quickly.  I will have to use slave labor to keep the home up .... dh and dd, till I can get a handle on things.

The commute is 2 hours one way, which may seem excessive to some of you out there.  This is the best permanent market that best fits my products.  There is NOTHING in our town or parish (county).  (I have looked at one in New Orleans and it is not a good fit, though I got a call from them last week.  I need to notify them I am giong in a different direction.)

We have 4 lane about 99% of the drive so it makes it easier.  The one interesting part is that part of the commute is over the Pontchartrain Causeway, over the Lake Pontchartrain between New Orleans and the North Shore area where this store is.  It is 24 miles long, the longest bridge over a continuous waterway.  The only time it will be a factor is if there is inclement weather, mostly thunderstorms, with high winds.

So I am very excited about this and hope that it takes off well considering we are entering the fall shopping season.