Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Booth Update

I have had my antique booth for 3 full months now and I have been enjoying it very much. Make no mistake, it is hard work to maintain, but it's a labor of love. Here's a look at what the booth looked like on August 1st, three months ago:
Pretty bare, huh? 
The space felt HUGE and I had fears that I wasn't going to have enough stuff to fill up all the shelves! 
Despite such a bare booth, I did really well that first week, which was very encouraging and I kept going through my boxes, re-discovering stuff I bought years ago, and hitting every yard sale I could find to get more stuff! This was great!!  I finally had a legitimate excuse to go yard sale-ing!!

Here's what my booth looked like on November 5th:
 What a difference!!
I find it really hard to cram things in there, so I keep it kind of open, space-wise. I don't have stuff piled on top of stuff because when I think of my own shopping preferences, I never really enjoy having to move stuff around to get to something all the way in the back of the shelf.  I'm clumsy, so I'm always worried I'll knock something over and then I'll have to pay for something I broke. As a klutzy person, I prefer to keep it light, but with enough stuff in there to keep you interested. 

I'm doing pretty good-- I don't know what is average monthly sales that other booths make, but I'm satisfied with what I am making.  I have exceeded my expectations and I'm not stopping anytime soon! We have been diligently going to every yard sale and thrift shop and trying to buy extra to last us through the winter until next yard sale season. I feel like I have enough inventory to last me through the winter. 

In fact, I feel like I've been doing so well, I opened up another booth at another antique mall!
Here's the second booth:
 A smaller space in a larger, busier mall. So far, I'm not making what I make at the other place. I moved in October 1st, and have only made a quarter of what I made at the other booth for October. Hmm.. I need to figure out what sells here! I just added over 50 items on Monday; then we had Election Tuesday with zero sales at both places; Wednesdays, this mall is closed... There's a Holiday open house at the mall this weekend, hopefully I'll have good sales and figure out what sells and bring in more of that.

I have a few holidays pieces at both booths, but this weekend, I plan to work on a few more items and bring those in next week.  I'm not going to go all out green, red, and gold, but I will have some nice decor items to scatter among the shelves. I want to sell not just decoration pieces, but gift items as well. A lot of things I sell would make nice little hostess gifts or if you know someone that loves vintage kitchen items, you could find something here to give. I sell what I love, so that if it doesn't sell, I'm happy to take it back home with me! 

There's my booth update!
Anyone looking for anything, maybe I have it! 





6 comments:

Jolene@JoRetro said...

Wow, what a difference! I love the garlands and the way your items are displayed. I need to clean my shelves off and make it easier for shoppers to see what I have. Thanks for the inspiration!

jenny said...

Thanks Jolene! I really admire other booths that can pile it all in and make it look attractive at the same time, I guess I just don't have that talent! ha! I'm doing well, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing!

Vanessa said...

Both of your spaces look AMAZING and it's been a real transformation. You really do have to be creative and find ways to fill every square inch with merchandise while keeping it all accessible. It's a challenge, but a worthwhile one.

jenny said...

Thanks Van! I know I can squeeze more in there-- it's challenging with such a large space! I try to bring in at least 100 items every time I restock! Kind of amazing when I think about it-- pulling 100 items out of the basement every week! How much stuff do I have down there?!?! :o)

Anonymous said...

Hi Jenny,

Do you sell any of your stuff on Esty (I think I spelled that wrong!!)... I hope you've been selling your items at the booth!! Great decorating job...it helps attract the eyes of the buyers!!

I hope to be able to visit your booth someday!!

Ellen

jenny said...

Ellen Kays-- I used to have an Etsy shop, but it was getting to be difficult to keep updating the shop with pictures and descriptions and do everything else around here. I find it easier with a booth and just price things and toss 'em in there! If you see something you like, feel free to ask and I can tell you the price and we'll figure out the shipping from there! I haven't been to the booths in a month (!!!) but plan to go this week and you'll see updated photos posted soon! Check back to see! :o)