I love having a family business, I really do. Especially since the family reads the blog (Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Luv you <3). We absolutely never, ever, have even the smallest disagreement about anything.
*Crickets chirping*
Ok. So maybe we occasionally have very constructive, enthusiastic discussions. And maybe the best way to set up our craft fair booth is a common topic. And I might even have gone to the internet and asked for feedback so I’d have…well, “ammunition” seems like too strong a word….let’s go with “external confirmation” for the ideas I presented to the family (thanks friends).
Anyhoo! Last Friday night, before dinner (but after a long day at work/working on the ranch, totally ideal timing), we did a trial run of a new layout in the driveway. The central tenants for me were “open and uncluttered”. The rest of the fam was still rocking the “use all the possible space” theory. Not mutually exclusive concepts…but close to it. Eventually, this is what we ended up with:
We moved the peg boards to the back and wrapped them around, so they are more like a back wall and less like two side walls. There is actually room behind the boards for most of the family to tuck away, so they aren’t, you know, lurking around trying to talk to people. We moved the table in the center to one side, and me from the back to the other side.
The old layout is on the left, the new on the right. I’m hoping it felt more like a shallow bowl and less like a tunnel. I think we had more people come into the booth, but then again, we had more people at the event.
Friends? Did we do better? I promise not to use your comments as key points in any further discussions…actually, that’s a lie. But I’ll be very gentle.
Cliff House Alpacas 
Yes although I think you could put a small something in the center if you need the space. Also we left one of those popup canopy things in Illinois and could pick it up on our way back from Christmas if you want to use it next year.
I think we can do without the table in the center, so far. I’ve seen it done both ways in other booths, and I don’t mind the table in the middle either. It might reduce the clutter on the walls.
Mom’s been somewhat discouraged by sales. I’m honestly not sure we’re going to be doing many more of these.
I think the second way is great! I like specifically that you are up front with the wheel, and I think it’s a good balance having you on one side and the pictures of the alpacas on the other side. People I’m sure are intrigued by both and come into the booth to find out what you end up making! Are you doing any other shows in the next few weekends? We’ll actually be in town for a while, and we’d love to come to one!
Thanks Patty! I talked to a ton of people, so I suppose it worked. I think we’re done with craft shows, for now. We’re having a holiday Barn Bazaar on November 17th, though. Which means you’d get to see the ‘pacas too!
Yes, much better this way. Definitely good to have you in the front. You are a moving object and people will be attracted to watch you spinning. Once you’ve caught them doing that, they will see the hanks behind you and that will lead them in. This is not a criticism but I think it still looks a bit untidy. Perhaps you could use all the same type of basket and set out the hanks in a more uniform way? Only trying to be helpful. The shops I like to go into best of all are the ones that don’t have too much on show but what they do have looks beautifully cared for. I like it when the trader has shown us the value of the goods by setting them out in a very tempting way.
Thank you, that’s great advice. We’re still acquiring baskets and such, so hopefully our display will get more consistent as we replace the stuff we just pulled from around the house with things we bought for displaying our merchandise.
And we can certainly put fewer things out. That’s a hard line to find, between to sparse and too cluttered. I appreciate the advice, I really do!