March has been booked solid - we're doing shows every weekend. We started off with The Thieves' Market on Anna Maria Island on Saturday the 7th, the last of the season there for us, as April is too hot already and the snowbirds will have flown home for the season. It was sparsely attended by vendors as the date had changed from the usual 2nd Saturday of the month (due to some community scheduling conflict with another event). But the crowds came, fairly early on in the day, and we did a steady business in books, jewelry, and some ceramics.
As ever, it's a pleasure seeing the other vendors that we've come to know from the previous season, and to see visiting vendors from other shows who came by to check the show out for the following season. Bob and I both enjoy the sense of community that we've already discovered from just one cycle of shows doing these shows.
Yesterday we did another one day event, Antique Alley, up in Bellair Bluffs. It's an outstanding show that is well advertised, very well attended, and we were lucky that the weather was perfect (a bit breezy, but that was welcome, and I had protected our booth as best I could, so we suffered zero casualties). Bob did the - yawn!! - very early set up, then a panic as no sooner than he had the booth all but set up than he was offered the empty spot next to us as well, as the promoter had a no show. Someone had prepaid but then became ill and was unable to use the space. Talk about a scramble - he pretty much had to tear down an entire side of the booth space, then spread everything out to fill up that extra spot AND unpack absolutely everything that he had brought. It's not as if the van was packed with inventory ready for a double spot!
I joined him several hours later, having been able to sleep in, have a leisurely cup of coffee, snuggle with the cat, and read the paper at home first. By the time I arrived the early shoppers were out in force and the place was buzzing. Although sales are still way off compared to last year - every single conversation that I overhead was about the economy, the economy, and more of the economy - people still shopped, but spent less. High value sales are not the norm for now, and we've adjusted what we bring to the shows to reflect that.
Another strange thing we've noticed is that people are more apt to negotiate for "your best price" - and then walk away without making a purchase. I don't think there's an intention to buy, but there's still the desire to go through the motions of making the deal. I swear I could even see the emptiness in people's faces as they went through these motions. I could tell, as we would go through these little dances of price negotiations, that there was no sale to be made; but still the dance would go on.
Then there was the lady who licked my pearl earrings (is this a check to see if they are real or what flavor they are?) who left lipstick on the display card and of course, did not buy the earrings. Someone told me that elsewhere at the show the same woman was licking silver plate dinner ware. Ewww...
So, more shows to come. The website will continue to languish as we concentrate on the live activities this month; then as the summer heat descends, I'll turn my attention back to the eCrater store.
Just glad that I'm doing as much as I am.
