Sunday took us to Appleton, WI's Art at the Park. A couple of years ago, they moved the show from being on the park grass, to being on the street around the park. This was done because of wet grounds from a lot of rain that year. They have continued to keep the exhibitors on the street, which works out very well. For some strange reason, last year was a rough year in sales at this show for many artists. I am glad to report that this year, our sales were up 300% over last years sales. The crowd is very engaged in art. And this year, they were back to buying art. In addition, the Trout Museum has a new Director. She has only been "on the job" for 10 weeks. She personally came into our booth and thanked us for providing an item in the auction. That was very nice. We love the Appleton Show and look forward to returning next year for our seventh year.
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Well, I know we are not doing everything right. But we have made some changes. When I have an opportunity, I will explain further. :)
Congratulations Colin! Your dramatic improvement shows you're doing everything right. Maybe a blog post on the sort of changes you've made?
Colin, Glad that Appleton works for you. After last year, I realized it was not my market. I usually do a show more than once before I make that decision. People just didn't seem to be interested in my glass. Very few even ventured into my booth. I too have cut back on shows this year and have increased sales at some of those shows I continue to do, many of which are small shows. After much research, I will continue to look for additional shows to fill in some of my open weekends in markets where my glass sells.
Congrats, Colin! Love to hear about successful experiences. It payed off to have adjusted your inventory. Linda, hope your next shows are better.
Glad to hear you are experiencing improvements this year across the board. I've had the same experience this year. I've had about a 35% increase from last years profits! Hopefully its a good sign of the economy starting to recover. Or I've just learned some good lessons and adjusted appropriately.
As I stated before, our sales were bad in Appleton in 2011 as well. We have done this show for 6 years; last year was shockingly low. We have worked hard to adjust our inventory to offer items that connect with the attendees. We saw huge increases in Appleton this year. We have had nice increase all this year. We have done 3 LESS shows this year and sales are UP 29% from last year (year to date). Not every show has been a home run. But we are experiencing improvements at the shows.
We did this show last year and our sales were dismal. The booth next to us with art on a stick was booming with sales. Sorry to say, but this show was not for me and I'm not likely to be back anytime soon.
Were you at the same show we were? We didn't see sales any better than last year! Perhaps you did so well because you had a photo of your work in the exhibitor listing booklet... (the booklet is a beautiful full color 8 page extravaganza!) or that you were set up on Franklin Street (which had booths on both sides of the street). We were on the opposite side of the park (North Street) and we felt that there were a lot more lookers, rather than buyers, at the show this year. Maybe they all spent their money on Franklin Street :) Glad you had a good show. We need all need more of them!