The Board Chronicles: California Avocado Festival 2017

The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.

Time to get serious. The holidays are upon us.

Yes. Upon us.

We loved doing this event last year. Big traffic. Happy people. Party.

What’s not to like?

We stayed busy, Mrs M sold out of Avocado Soap, and we even got a very nice steak dinner Saturday night. Spectacular, even.

You bet we wanted to return for the 31st Annual California Avocado Festival!

As we eagerly anticipated returning to Carpinteria, we had 13 events in front of us during this 4th quarter. We truly have miles to go before we sleep, and here’s our very big first step.

New Ideas

We’re doing it just like last year … but with better inventory. We hope.

Observations

We drove up Friday, and had dinner at Clementine’s. Their filet is highly recommended. If you’re in Carpinteria, enjoy!
The event’s on a city street, so, as is often the case with a street fair-styled event, it’s a Saturday morning set-up … even though the commercial section in the next block was up on Friday night as well. Hmmmm.
The alarm didn’t go off. WHAT? My phone died … the outlet I plugged the phone in, on the desk lamp, worked just fine until it stopped working. My phone’s battery drained, and I had no alarm. Oh, and our credit card transactions go through my phone. We’re running a bit late, and the majority of our business has to go through my dead phone. OK, go.
Love turbo charging. I am a droid fan.
Went to go get my favorite breakfast, and charged the phone more in the only outlet in the restaurant, located between the 2 restrooms. 83% will have to be enough today.
We arrived at 6:20a for a 6:30a load-in, only to find that the City had left a forklift in the street to block access. The fork lift driver … was not there. OK, go.
I carted everything in. About a city block, which was a flat block, thankfully. But, it was 6:30a and I was playing mule to get everything to booths 23 & 24. Good times.
Fork lift driver showed up at 7:08a for what he thought was a 7a call. I was almost finished carting in, no thanks to Public Works Department. We were running more than 30 minutes behind schedule. We had walkers in the booth before we were setup due to the forklift delay.
First sale of the day = vindication. I can make a serving tray that people believe will be of use. It only took me most of my lifetime to get there….
A lady saw the trivets and asked, “Do you put crackers in the slots?”
Uh … no. Not recommended. Sorry.
Vending can be a humbling experience.
A young lady walked into the booth wearing a pair of bananas on her purse. She observed that it’s the perfect snack … I observed it was an unusual accessory. She offered me a banana as a reward. I think.
A pirate walked into the booth with his wench. (That is what the women associating with pirates are called, right? I don’t want to be politically incorrect with the title for a woman accompanying a pirate in my booth.) They were doing some cosplay thing, I guess. She later assured me they were good pirates, and did take exception to being called a wench. So, now you know. Don’t make the same mistake I did when a pirate walks into your booth with his … uh … well, when 2 pirates walk into your booth.
Business was way up on Saturday. Looking good for a great weekend.
Sunday started with a spectacular breakfast. No load in, of course, and we were assured we would not have a fork lift problem for load out! Life was good.
A client came by that custom ordered 2 large cutting boards last year, and he loves them. Lots of kudos. I smiled.
And then his wife came by, and the kudos happened all over again. Life is good.
Business, though, slowed down. Way down. Last year, Sunday was unusual at this event: it was 20% up from Saturday. At most events, Sunday is 50% down from Saturday. This year, we seem to be following the normal model. Unfortunately.
Strike started promptly at 6p. We were in the dark soon … and they didn’t turn on the rented floodlights until well after dark. The Department of Public Works, late to the party. Again.
A 3 year old was walking with her family in front of our booth, and went into meltdown. She had a spectacular tantrum, with full-throated screaming for at least 5 minutes. She then got a time out (still in front of our booth) and screaming continued for another 8 minutes as the family tried to figure out what to do with little miss screamer. Finally, a family member picked her up and carried her away. Screaming.
I have had days like that, but I believe I was not as demonstratively spectacular as the young miss.
In the end, we were disappointed by this event. We were down from last year … but this was STILL our 7th best event ever. How can you be disappointed when you had one of your best ever?
Expectations kill you.

The Food

Saturday Breakfast: Hello, old friend. Thanks for the electricity, too.

Saturday Lunch: Pizza Dan’s was right in front of our booth, so it was easy. And cold, when I finally got to it.

Saturday Snack: Chips & guac when Little Girl came to visit. Life was good.

Saturday Dinner: Comfort food in the hotel bar, which I will not honor by calling it a restaurant.

Sunday Breakfast: Goodbye, old friend. Esau’s was just down the street from us, and this breakfast/lunch cafe is highly recommended. Yum.

Sunday Lunch: Carry out from Esau’s. Yum. A new tradition.

Sunday Snack: Nope.

Sunday Dinner: Carl’s Jr, eaten in the car on the way home. High living.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 274
Booth cost: $950
Food cost: $247
Travel cost: $747
Total sales: $3,476
Net Revenue (does not include product cost): $1,532
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: several
Saturday alarm: It wanted to be 4:30a, but ’twas not to be.
Sunday alarm: 6:30a
# transactions: 119
# soap & lotion vendors: At least 3 other soapers. There may have only been 1 other last year, according to my notes … so perhaps this explains why Mrs M’s sales fell.
# woodworking vendors: There was another cutting board maker, located in the Carpinteria Artist Center (he is a member, he said). They were up near the action, adjacent to the food/music area, but off the street. I heard traffic was not great. They were a bit hidden, it seems.
Edge grain vs. end grain: 31:2
Returning next year? Probably

Boards sold: 33

MBOs: 9

Cheese Boards: 5

Trivets: 5

Cutting Boards: 3

Lazy Susans: 3

Serving Trays: 2

Custom Order: 1

Small Surfboard: 1

Large Cutting Board: 1

Bread Board: 1

Notepad Clipboard: 1

Legal Clipboard: 1

Serving Tray 17 – 03. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Jatoba & Bubinga. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 916. Purpleheart, Hard Maple, Cherry & Yellowheart. Single Magic = Wall mount only!

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 914. Hard Maple, Pau Ferro, Canarywood & Sapele. Single Magic = Wall mount only!

Cheese Board 17 – 334. Purpleheart, Bubingba & Cherry. 9″ x 11″ x 5/8″.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 -616. Yellowheart, Jatoba, Cherry & Mahogany. Double Magic.

Lazy Susan 17 – 08. Quilted Hard Maple & Purpleheart. 18″ diameter.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 620. Purpleheart, Bubinga & Caribbean Rosewood. Double Magic.

Magic Bottle Opener 175. Black Walnut, Yellowheart & Hard Maple. Single Magic.

Lazy Susan 16 – 015. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Yellowheart & Purpleheart. 17″ diameter.

Cheese Board 17 – 318. Jatoba, Purpleheart, Cherry, Goncalo Alves & Bloodwood. Chaos Board. 11-1/4″ x 11-1/2″ x 1/2″.

Cutting Board 17 – 432. End Grain. Black Walnut. 16-1/2″ x 21-1/2″ x 1-1/2″.

Cutting Board 17 – 434. Black Walnut, Padauk, Pau Ferro & Jatoba. End Grain. 14″ x 15″ x 1-1/4″.

Cheese Board 17 – 319. Jatoba, Honey Locust, Bloodwood, Jatoba, Hard Maple, Teak & Padauk. Chaos Board. 11″ x 9-1/2″ x 5/8″.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 650. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Bubinga & Cherry. Double Magic – means it can fridge mount or wall mount.

Trivet 17 – 04. Cherry. 8.5″ x 8/5″ x 3/4″.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 648. Black Walnut, Purpleheart, Canarywood & Yellowheart. Double Magic – means it can fridge mount or wall mount.

Serving Piece 17 – 802. Black Walnut. 14″ diameter, 1-1/8″ thick. Urethane finish.

Serving Piece 17 – 801. Hard Maple. 14″ diameter, 1-1/8″ thick.

Small Surfboard 17 – 502. Jatoba & Hard Maple. 7″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Clipboard 17 – 014. Chaos board. Notepad size. 1/2″ clip.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 610. Padauk, Cherry, Canarywood & Yellowheart. Double Magic.

Clipboard 16 – 028. Black Walnut, Purpleheart, Yellowheart, Cherry & Hard Maple. Legal size. 1″ clip.

Bread Board 17 – 501. Hard Maple & Bloodwood. This is an undersized bread board; most are 20″ long. Since this has a handle, it’s not really a small board. According to me! 8″ x 16″ x 1″.