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.
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
