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.
The Summit is one of the older, prestigious neighborhoods in the planned community that is Valencia. Valencia is one of the 4 communities that make up the city of Santa Clarita (along with Newhall, Saugus and Canyon Country).
A vendor friend of ours hosts a holiday boutique at the homeowner’s clubhouse each year. This is micro neighborhood event, though it does attract some shoppers from across Santa Clarita. Small event, small number of vendors … and Santa comes by every year.
There are generally several friendly vendors that we know well. There’s a pot luck lunch for the vendors. And, our results here traditionally have been way beyond our expectations. Read about prior years here: 2015 part 1, 2015 part 2 and 2016.
New Ideas
- We double booked this weekend (we broke a rule). The 2 Mrs M’s handled this show, while Little Girl & I handled the Fine Craft Show a couple of miles away.
- It’s been a while since we did a table top boutique like this one simultaneously with a double booth outdoor boutique. Both Mrs M and I had to get new display pieces. She bought a suitcase for hers; I built mine.
Observations
- Event # 7 of 15 in our 4th quarter. Yes, I added another event. Shoot me now.
- We look forward to this event, which is why we broke a rule to double book it.
- Velda met a vendor fan of this blog, who actually gave her a gift of appreciation! I must be doing something right.
- Unfortunately, this event just didn’t work this year. Traffic was way down, as were vendor bookings. Is it because it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving? Is it just another in a long list of “down” events in 2017? Is it just the phase of the moon?
- No way to know, but business at this event was way, way down from prior year.
The Food
Mrs M is not as forthcoming with her food choices and I was not there … so you’ll miss the culinary updates for the event days. Sorry!
Saturday Dinner: Leftovers. We’re a sad, sad couple of vendors.
Sunday Dinner: Dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants … with drama. Read the Fine Craft Show post for that story.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 36
- Booth cost: $ 160 + raffle prizes
- Food cost: $0
- Travel cost: $19
- Total sales: $389
- Net Revenue (does not include product cost): $210
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
- Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: many
- Saturday alarm: nope
- Sunday alarm: nope
- # transactions: 20
- # soap & lotion vendors: just us
- # woodworking vendors: just us
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 3:0
Boards sold: 3
Small Board: 1
Word Block: 1
Cheese Board: 1
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