We attended the Gilmore Shows, Inc Craftsman's Classic in Columbia SC March 2-4, 2012. Load in and out was fairly easy with parking just feet from the door. The entrance we used was a tight fit (standard door width) so we had to be careful how the hand truck was loaded. Friday was painful. I did not talk to a single artist that had much in the way of sales. Saturday was better. Nothing to be excited about but at least getting closer to covering expenses. By the close on Sunday we finally covered expenses (just barely). Show fees (booth and a half), electricity, gas, hotel, cost to produce - it adds up. The good news is we made black again. Not much for four days work for two people plus the time for me to get the inventory ready. Some day maybe I will be able to pay for time on task. In the meantime we are still enjoying the shows and seeing our other artist friends and exploring other communities. I am addicted to all the accolades even when they don't buy. Last year this show brought in more $$ than any show I had done to date. Others also said it was a great show last year. No one had an answer as to the downturn this year. Weather was not great with severe thunderstorm threat Saturday and lots of wind. Sunday was cold (local standards) with wind. It is an indoor show so I thought it would help bring people to the show since is was not a nice outdoor day. Maybe they were just keeping their hands in their pockets to keep them warm. ;-) I think this one is worth doing again. It is a good location with lots of advertising. Our next show is March 17. It is a little local show (37 booths and about 7 to 10,000 shoppers) one hour from home - St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, GA.
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I hope you have the luck of the Irish Maryllis at the St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, GA. Thanks for your report on the Craft'sman's Classic.
Thanks just the same. I appreciate you for taking the time to reply.
Hi Susan. Columbus is the only Gilmore show we have done and this was just our 2nd time. I'm afraid I cant be of much help with suggestions. Maybe there are others that have more history with Gilmore.........
I appreciate you sharing your information. I was recently accepted to the Gilmore Group, but have not applied for any of their shows yet. Would you please suggest which ones to apply for? Do you have a favorite? How long have you been doing them? Thank you for your input!!
I agree it was a strange show. (It was good to see you though Maryllis.) We had about the same experience as you except our "big day" was Friday and it went downhill from there. We did manage to get into the black a little and we will definitely be back. This has been a good show for us in the past and I can't help but think that this was just a weather related cut-back. There certainly was a lot of high quality promotion. I saw lots of TV spots, billboards and news coverage. Good luck in Dublin!