November 20: Day 4 of 19
Sales Sunday were the second best of the weekend, but that's not saying much. Happy to say this week is over. Glad I have a few days off. And blessed by every dollar and sale I made, because I know I did better than many who attended this weekend.
But....
There is a list of things that just make me say WTF????
1) Shows are usually set up in a way that the majority of the people turn to their right as soon as they enter. This one is backwards, everyone is forced to go left, or go around the stage, through the food, and then get to crafts if they go right. And when they leave the first tent, the have to go left into the craft tent, the whole thing is set up "backwards".
2) People enter into the darkest part of the tent- the food court- leaving the brightness of a clear day, it takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the utter darkness of the food court area and can be downright disorientating. The opposite happens when they leave, they are blinded by the sunlight, and it will be worse when there is reflection from snow.
3) If you do come in and turn left, one of the first booths puts a cup in your hand. It is a sample of some drink mix. But the first rule of merchandise is to keep peoples hands empty so they will keep filling them. Basic theory of a shopping cart, and the reason why most places offer "to take that" while you look around more. Empty hands mean more purchases. And there are no garbage cans in that isle anywhere for people to get rid of this empty cup, so that whole row deals with cups being left on displays and becoming garbage cans for little cups all day.
4) Selling cigars- really? Isn't this a family show? This is allowed? Is there licensing involved for that? And are they doing a proper ID check with purchase? And since they are soaked in alcohol, does that change things even more? This whole booth makes me shutter every time I pass it. It just feels wrong and to have it be one of the first things you see is wrong on even more levels.
5) What is the deal with grouping all the like vendors together in one big bunch. The first row has cinnamon beeswax (and will have two vendors of it next week), soap (not me), and candles all withing 10 booths of each other. Talk about sensory overload. And jewelry people set up across from one another? Was this place just filled first come first serve, because if someone planned this, I do not understand their thought process at all.
6) And the poor crafters that face the food vendors, all they look at is peoples butts all day. The lines for food extend into their booths, keeps out customers, and the food smell permeates their displays and clothes. Nothing like going home without sales and smelling like fried pickles. I could get that at a street fair, I don't expect that at a high end event like this.
7) And where are the garbage cans? It isn't just the little cups that are a problem, but each row should end with a garbage can, at the very least. Or in the center where the horizontal aisle is there could be one at every intersection. But they are no where to be found.
8) The odd thought for the day came to me from a crafts person whose booth sits between parking space lines. She swears these lines on the floor are like invisible barriers that keep people out of the booths in her row. She says you can see people look down at them (thinking maybe they re raised up some???) and then think twice about crossing them into the booth space. She is going so far as to buy a rug to cover hers to see if she can see a difference in peoples behavior in the weeks to come.
9) Is the safest way to cover a drain a piece of plywood, some sandbags, and a table and chairs? Because the drain in the middle of the food court is covered in just this way. And if it does rain hard would that mean that drain won't ...well... drain? and what happens to that water?
And after 4 days these are the things that make me shake my head and wonder....I bet next week their will be more.
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