Booth Floor Plans

[wildrose]

I bought metal closet "shelving" from Lowes. I can hang it or clip it together at a right angle. I'm mostly a "one person show" for set up/take down, so my display stuff has to be light and fit in my Saturn VUE. These are pics from two different events: a VERY small church fair, and Steppin'Out a HUGE outdoor festival. At Steppin'Out I was fortunate to have my buddy Ann McGrath with me to help and sell her stuff too. This was the first year I went to both these events.

I tweak my display all the time, every show I go to. I've used shoeboxes under cloth to elevate display sections too.

[Daggrim]

I like the wooden extension ladder idea. I once saw a pair of nice homemade frames in that shape, stood up near each other with a set of 1x12's placed thru them as shelves. Looked great, and very portable.

I have often displayed my helmets on hanging shelves...1x12's suspended on ropes which were hooked to my tent frame above. A perfect way for people to see them, and yet keep them out of reach of kids. The only trouble was, as you may expect, when a heavy wind blew. Everything would start a'rockin'. Surprisingly, it was very rare for the helmets to topple, but it did happen. I loved the way the display was positioned, and how little space it took up. I could place tables, or store my tubs under the shelves.

Ideally, I'd like to duplicate the position of those shelves with a more stable setup on the ground, like the ladder frame idea.

Anybody else ever try suspended shelves?

Daggrim

[broncobuster]

Ive been setting up at shows for like 20 years or so. every show is different my inventory i take can be different to. people like the hands on stuff. majority of my shows are biker rallys. im the sewing lady lol. my machines both are antiques one with electric one is peddle. that usually draws them in. I find cause i have the patches people come in to read them all plus i sell novelty stuff that draws them in to like the swearing parot etc. which woudnt be to acceptable at an event wheres theres kids. i also find it best to hang things eye level. the under the table stuff unless they are the bargain hunters. they will not look. the sign that says "sale" or "discount" gets there eye. and of course ive got a smart mouth so I tell jokes n pick on the customers.

I have an empty table to lay coats n vest on to put patches on. n they can set there stuff on. I put my unique or unusual stuff up front to catch there eye. i work in the back corner with rows of tables or stands so they can look around it all n zig zag through. n yes ya need an entrance n an exit. i dont bug the customers at all unless they ask. they like to see the stuff and handle it. I prefer outdoor shows so i can have my van behind my booth to keep the unnecesary stuff and extra stuff.

the biggest thing I think is to have something the other vendors dont. im always looking for new items for my shows. I find most people dont like to let go of there money if an item get close to the 50.00 or above. I have a lot of the 10.00 or less items. thats what pays for your spot. of course with my patches thats about all i have lol. unique and cheap sells. most people I find have the walmart mentality "I can get it cheaper at walmart" but each show is different. what sells at one wont sell at another. variety is another plus. its better to have all kinds of different things than a lot of the same thing. when you have a small selection they think they are only getting one of just a few.

another thing is your location. best place to be is by the bathrooms or the beer tent lol If you can manage to pick your spot pick where the high traffic area is. Im usually by myself at the smaller shows and ive got a good repor with my customers. they bring me food and drink all i have to do is go to the bathroom so im not away from my booth to long lol. but I have a story about that to lol. well i think i covered it on my perspective, Bronc/Bonnie

[cdthayer]

I'm the sewing lady....my machines both are antiques one with electric one is peddle.....that usually draws them in....

I have an empty table to lay coats n vest on to put patches on. n they can set there stuff on...... I work in the back corner with rows of tables or stands so they can look around it all

....have my van behind my booth to keep the unnecesary stuff and extra stuff.

Bronc/Bonnie

Hi Bonnie,

Your booths are similar to our quilt show booths (the 8x16 floor plan sample earlier in this thread), in that they are a combination of retail and production. I consider our cutting table, POS table, and the room beside them where we stand as our "production" part, since they don't have retail items on them, and are used by us to do the show. I list the space used by chairs and stools as "storage" space (LOL), since it's where we store ourselves and they have no other use of the floor space. Using the space under tables for storage is a freebie, since the floor space for the tables is considered either retail or production space. If we didn't have tables to stash things under, we'd have to haul stuff outside to the pickup, and then go haul it back in when we needed it like you do with your van.

Now that I've been attacking the year-end 2009 reports for our business and have our total cost, I crunched some numbers to see what our shop floor plan is costing us percentage-wise per square foot when split out into 4 categories (Retail, Production, Storage, and "Free Space" for isles). I made a little calculator in an Excel file (great formula tool) to crunch my numbers. We're trying to adjust our floor plan a little to make better use of our space. Our Free Space is the highest percentage at our shop at 32.1%, just slightly higher than our storage space at 31.6%. That's 63.7% of our total floor.

I ran my booth space floor plans through it to see how the percentages shake out for them.

On the 10x10 booth space that costs $20 for 100 square feet, the results for that sample floor plan are: Cost per foot is 20 cents, and the use is Retail 37% ($7.40), Production 12% ($2.40), Storage 4% ($0.80), and Free Space 47% ($9.40).

On the 8x16 booth that costs $40 for 128 square feet, the results are: Cost per foot 31 cents, Retail 35.9% ($14.38), Production 30.5% ($12.19), Storage 3.9% ($1.56), and Free Space 29.7% ($11.88).

So the Free Space is the highest percentage at one of our show booths and second highest at the other. Although Free Space is a necessary evil as a space-waster, it may be something to look at to help us make our booths more profitable. We have to provide adequate space for shoppers, but maybe the floor plans can be adjusted a little.

CD in Oklahoma

thayerrags.com

[TimDreamer]

Hmmm, it seems to me like ya'll are working this out like a science project or something.

Got some questions for everyone and I know the answers won't be the same. How much do you have invested in your tables, racks, display cases, spinners, storage bins, tents, etc. Did you buy new or used? Did you purchase a truck or van just to haul things around to different places with?

I can see from the posts here that things evolved over time as each person learned what worked for them to attract customers.

Have you ever gone to a show/flea market/event and not sold enough to cover expenses? How did that make you feel about returning to that same place in the following years? Was it worth it to just get your name out there and let people know that you are in the business?

Where is your break even point at an event and what percentage of the sales of merchandise do you think it took to make that?

Do you do mainly event sales or do you also have what they call a brick and mortar store (shop) to sell from between events? Do you also have a website where you post representative pictures to generate sales?

I can think of a lot more questions to ask, but I don't want to make a pest of myself..... LoL.

Tim

[wildrose]

Got some questions for everyone and I know the answers won't be the same. How much do you have invested in your tables, racks, display cases, spinners, storage bins, tents, etc. Did you buy new or used? Did you purchase a truck or van just to haul things around to different places with?

A: I've bought most everything new, but I find things in a variety of places. For example, I bought a really nice wooden bowl to put small things in CHEAP when a local Mikasa store was closing. I have an EZUp tent (the original) for outdoor shows, and bought that with its wheeled carry bag new at Sam's Club years back. Had to replace the top, and bought that from the co. website. I really need to get a new tent soon...The tent was likely the thing I've spent the most on, it must've been about 200.00? But I've used it for several years now. I have small rectangular folding tables (4) and some square card tables, don't think I spent over 20.00 each on them.

Have you ever gone to a show/flea market/event and not sold enough to cover expenses? How did that make you feel about returning to that same place in the following years? Was it worth it to just get your name out there and let people know that you are in the business?

A: Over the years I've been to events where I didn't sell anything. (INDOORS! AT A MALL!!!) And events where I didn't sell much (small church fairs usually). It's a tough call for me on if I go back or not. Usually I consider 2 things: was it well organized? Who is it benefitting? I will sometimes come back if I think it's a worthy cause, but not if it was poorly managed.

Where is your break even point at an event and what percentage of the sales of merchandise do you think it took to make that?

A: If I make back more than it cost me to get in, I'm satisfied, but not necessarily happy. What irritates me is if it took a boatload of small items selling to make even. I'd rather sell a few big items.

Do you do mainly event sales or do you also have what they call a brick and mortar store (shop) to sell from between events? Do you also have a website where you post representative pictures to generate sales?

A: I sell almost entirely at craft fairs/events. I take custom orders, but those are usually people who've met me at an event. I do have a site as well.