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.
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A note about my absence. After a few months of getting more and more behind … I still haven’t caught up.
I will, just not today. In the interim, here’s the latest installment of The Board Chronicles for all of you that have been missing my missives.
Enjoy, and thank you for your patience!
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This Home & Garden Show is held at the LA County Fairground in Pomona. I thought it was worth a chance. It’s not the largest Home & Garden Show – but it is in LA. Since it’s just over an hour from home, I’ll be sleeping in my own bed each night. I just have over 2 hours of freeway driving each day. What could go wrong?
The event was held March 8 – 10, 2019.
New Ideas
- This is the same set up that I did last week in Fresno at that Home & Garden show. This one is in one single hall … but the hall is big enough that the designated parking area for my trailer is inside of the hall, down by the stage. Its. A. Big. Building.
Observations
- Oh. So. Boring.
- On Friday, I had one sale, for $45. I’ve got a bad attitude, and I’m just getting started here. The traffic … no. Not at all.
- Nice enough event, really, but there was not enough there there to keep me interested. Home & Garden Shows are a numbers game, I believe, and this one isn’t big enough to support me.Lesson learned!
The Food
- Best Meal: Still saving money. Have you seen how low the sales are in the first quarter?
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 368
- Booth cost: $800
- Food cost: $65
- Travel cost: $0
- Total sales: $1,650
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
- Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: 1
- # transactions: 14x in 3 days. Horrible. Did I mention the event is 23 hours long?
- # soap & lotion vendors: Yes, there were a couple.
- # woodworking vendors: My neighbor installed wooden doors. Does that count?
- Returning next year? Nope
Boards sold: 17
Signs: 5
Cutting Boards: 4
Cheese Slicers: 4
Large Serving Piece: 1
Cheese Board: 1
Coaster Set: 1
Special Order: 1
