After last week's very successful craft show I was all ramped up (though a little nervous about my inventory level) for this weekend's show at a new venue. It was at a huge county tech school in a very nice area about half an hour from NYC and run by promoters that I've worked with before. My expectations were high.
After driving an hour to the school, there was already a line of cars/vans lined up in front of the school when I arrived so I parked about 6 car lengths from the doors. I found my booth space and come back to the van to unload and realized I forgot my cart! I have this old beat up cart that I can wheel 6 bins on at once. Maybe because I hadn't brought it the prior week, because I knew there were firemen to help out, it didn't occur to me that I hadn't loaded it. It was on my packing list. Obviously, I needed to check that list one last time! To quote the ever lovable Charlie Brown - "Aaugh!"
So, two by two, I start carrying in my bins. Arms aching, mood grouching I texted a little rant to my husband about the cart. Things started turning around! He's coming out in this direction later and will bring my cart. Also, 2 wonderful guys took pity on me and helped me bring in the rest of my stuff! My space was good and pretty close to the entrance. The extra time I had allowed for post-setup/pre-show browsing was gone. Oh well.
The show started at 10:00. Usually, there's a flock of early birds waiting for the doors to open at most shows. No flock. Hmmm.... Curious. After a while it became clear a slow trickle was the best it was gonna get. I hadn't realized this was the first year for this show and several of the more seasoned vendors were commenting how there's a glut of shows in this area making them less of a novelty. Great!
Needless to say I didn't do well. I don't think anyone did. Several vendors packed up early (a big no-no!) and the mood of disappointment was cast over everyone. But my husband had delivered my cart so loading up went much smoother than the morning travesty. Unfortunately, the headache I felt coming on when I finally left was a raging migraine by the time I got home. Straight to bed for me. The difference in stress level between last week's show and this week's was huge! Making a profit definitely helps take the edge off of a bad day.
Our next show is local and less expensive. Since it's about 10 minutes from home I'll have my boys come out to help with the unloading and loading. But our last show of the season is the following weekend out in the same area as last week with the same promoter. I've done that venue before and had a good show but my expectations have been knocked down a bit. I have to learn to expect the worst so I won't be disappointed. This is not a philosophy that fits me at all. =/
From our family to yours - Have a safe, peaceful and thankful Thanksgiving!
No comments:
Post a Comment