What a beautiful weekend we had at Letchworth Arts & Craft Festival.
For those of you who braved the 40 degree windy rainy weather you might think I’m crazy but I truly had a wonderful time.
It was so rewarding to see all the smiling expressions when folks approached our Petite Treats booth.
Thanks to all you who stopped by!
Hard to believe but SockLover and I have been coming to Letchworth for over 20 years now. It is our favorite place in the world on Columbus Day weekend.
We always start our Holiday Shopping there but this year I (we, I really did confer with the family) decided to try out my 1st craft booth. I’ve been to festivals all over the world and Letchworth is the only one I ever entertained the idea of having my own booth. There is just something magical in the Fall air at Letchworth’s Annual Columbus Day Weekend Festival.
So we put one last massive push on getting the Pancake’s for Piggies published and printed for this event. I always promised the illustrator and designer that we would have an official launch of the book at some event and Letchworth just seemed perfect.
As this was my first craft show, there were many lessons learned but everything went extremely well. Within the 1st hour and based everyone’s enthusiastic response to our products I knew that we would do ok. As I took inventory at the end of the 1st of 3 days I knew we were doing better than ok and feared we would be sold out before Monday. I went back to the cabin and knit well into the evening…. Must knit faster!
By the end of Monday only 2 small cupcake hats remained and that’s only because I made them as I sat in the booth. We sold out of pumpkins and the rest of the inventory was looking pretty slim. We did learn that on our 1st day cupcakes stole the show but as their inventory was diminished folks took more time to look (and buy) our other products.
Craft Show Tips:
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neodymium-magnets are your best friend
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square register is an awesome tool to set up your store front when it works
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periodically verify that square register is storing all your cash transactions
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bring more products than you can ever possibly believe that you will sell
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cold weather great for business!
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have DH take photos you’ll be too busy.
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have adorable models wear your products and prance around the festival
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You can never predict what people will buy. There was one cupcake hat that both HalfPint and I detested. I almost ripped it out more than once and then HP did not want me to set it out. It was the very FIRST SALE OF THE DAY!!! We just looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders.
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take photos of customers enjoying your products. Ask if they would like you to email them their photo. That way you can later ask if you may use their photo.
Yarn Leftovers 