I’ve had to make a difficult decision. Very difficult. I’ve been spread so thin these past couple of years with three booths in three different malls in three different towns plus Etsy, plus this sadly neglected blog, plus social media, plus conducting estate sales, plus pressure to paint furniture. I have to simplify. Our daughter will pretty much take over the furniture painting. Whew! Got that off my conscious.
I wasn’t doing any of the booths any favors spread so thin. First, there was the decision of what goes where and not enough stuff to go around. Well, I suppose there is enough stuff to go around if I really dig, but I haven’t. Then there was the time factor of just when I could tend the booths. I knew I needed to get back to one booth. But which one?
(Booth at the Pickle Patch in 2012)
Giving up one of the booths was a no brainer. I never really got the feel for the mall, even after 3 years. Ricky has a booth directly across from mine there where he does well in selling bundled tools and man stuff. We’ll join forces in his. This left the decision of choosing between the other two booths. Here’s what I was facing:
Mall #1 pros:
- It’s local
- I like the owners
- I have a strong emotional attachment
- It’s small and therefor easier for your booth to stand out = less competition
- I have a corner booth
Mall #1 cons:
- It closes at 5:00 every day
- It’s closed on Mondays
- The above two facts aren’t changing any time soon
- Traffic is less than stellar
- They charge a flat percentage of every item you sell
- The lighting in that corner booth is horrid
Mall #2 pros:
- Traffic is phenomenal. I’ve never seen anything like it in all the malls I’ve been a part of or visited
- I have a great corner booth
- Our daughter and little granddaughter live, literally, 2-3 minutes away. Minutes.
- Sales are always better there
- They’re open til 7:00 pm every day but Sunday when they close at 5:00
- Open 7 days a week
- No percentage taken out of sales unless it was paid for with a credit card
- Next to a college town. Wide range of demographics. People “get it” with new trends, upcycling, repurposing, etc. Mostly, anyway.
Mall #2 cons:
- It’s 75 miles away – but remember our daughter and granddaughter are there so that almost negates the con
- It’s huge. Many, many, many(!) vendors. Harder to stand out and compete for the same dollar
- ………….Um….. can’t think of anything else
So if you’re looking at this from a business perspective it makes sense to go with the bigger mall with the better sales, right? But my emotions want to keep me local. I’ve been forced to make a decision not based on emotions. A totally foreign concept for me. Generally, all my decisions are emotional, but in this case, they’ve caused me to be stressed and pulled in too many different directions. This week is my last at the Pickle Patch.
My heart is breaking. I was the first person out there to pick out my booth.
(Those last two pictures were back when I only had the one booth at The Pickle Patch.)
My new direction is one booth at Angel’s in Opelika (booth D-26), Etsy, the blog and the social media that comes with that. And whenever we have an estate sale lined up, work on that will take priority.
I won’t go into everything else that’s going on. It’s too overwhelming to even think about! Suffice it to say I’ve only touched the surface. One — or two — or three — things at a time. I will mention that I’ve been getting the blog set up to sell items here as well as Etsy. You can take a peek at the new design here: Home. The store is actually in working order, albeit a little sparse, if you happen to see something you’d like.
And just how do I think I can handle all this? Ha! I might not. But I’ll try. Since I don’t like coffee, I’ll be using 8 Hour Alert occasionally: (Warning, Will Robinson! Affiliate link coming up!)
When you’re not used to caffeine this stuff is pretty darn good!
So, was that sales pitch at the end cheesy? I promise it was an afterthought. NOT the purpose of the post! And I really do occasionally use and like the stuff. It takes the place of an energy drink now that I’m off sugar. đŸ™‚ Please, no lectures on caffeine! Coffee drinkers get a whole lot more caffeine on a regular basis than I do in a month. Or two.
