Well I did it! I finally opened my own space in an antique shop!
I apologize for being "blog-sent" for the last few weeks. I have been busy painting furniture, creating jewelry hangers from old windows, pricing items and finally moving into my space!
My little spot is called the Alcove and it's in the basement of the Whitehouse Antique and Candy Shop in Bothell, WA. The location is in a great little shopping place called Country Village and its a very popular spot for people to visit during the summer. There are cute shops, food, a train and even a pond where you can feed ducks and chickens. I'm hoping this will mean lots of traffic and business to the shop over the summer and hopefully lots of sales!
Let me tell you after I moved in on Thursday I worried and fretted all weekend that nothing would sell or that it didn't look right or my prices are too high or etc etc etc! I am going to be taking some stuff I found out at yard sales on Friday to the shop on Tuesday morning I think so I'll be excited to check on the booth and see if anything sold over the weekend. I'm used to instant gratification with my sales so it will be a hard adjustment for me to do the wait and see method!
My booth space rental costs $60/month plus a 12% commission and an 8 hr shift once per month in the shop. The way I see it is that I need to make at least $150 in sales per month just to break even. I'm hoping with my furniture pieces that I will surpass that goal. Fingers crossed for me and if any of you have ever done this or currently do, ANY tips and comments will be much appreciated, I want to actually make money at this!
What do you guys think?!
** UPDATE ** I went to the shop yesterday to rearrange a bit, add more to the walls and check sales. I sold $22 over the weekend which was just 4 days between trips! First thing to sell? Those awful boxer paint by numbers for $10! Amazing what sells and what doesn't! Can't wait to see how I do this week!
** UPDATE ** I went to the shop yesterday to rearrange a bit, add more to the walls and check sales. I sold $22 over the weekend which was just 4 days between trips! First thing to sell? Those awful boxer paint by numbers for $10! Amazing what sells and what doesn't! Can't wait to see how I do this week!
It looks great! I love the set up, great job! I was in retail home décor merchandising for years and I love to do that sort of thing. I've wanted to do a booth for about a year now but the only option ( and I mean ONLY) in my city is $150 + tax per month ( with a min. 6 month lease) PLUS $15% commission! I just don't think it gets enough traffic. I scout it every once in a while but there are usually only a few customers in the whole ( huge) building. It sounds like your location is great. I'm sure you'll do really well. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteThat is the situation I thought I'd be in for a long time, commission and rent too expensive and not enough traffic. I put my name on a wait list for this store and miraculously this space came available! I ***Hope*** that it is going to do well for me, only time will tell! Thanks for the good wishes!!
DeleteYour booth is so cute! I haven't gone the booth route yet, but I have thought about it. I hope you'll post updates, because I'm very interested to see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kimberly! I am glad to hear its cute, I want it to look more cute than junky and I am worried its too full but hopefully it will draw attention and get some sales! I will keep you all posted hopefully monthly! I am taking a load down to the shop tomorrow now that I got some more items tagged and I can't wait to check and see if I had any sales over the weekend!
DeleteWell, you are definitely going to sell all that great looking painted furniture so you'd better look for some more display pieces! And is that a chalkboard in a picture frame on the wall?
ReplyDeleteYes a magnetic chalkboard in a frame on the wall! It was super easy to make just a thrift store frame for $3.99, took out the picture & glass and added a 12x12 metal sheet that I spray painted with chalkboard paint! Hoping it sells for $25.
ReplyDeleteI have some backup pieces in the process of being painted now for display I hope the bigger furniture pieces sell since just one piece would take care of my rental fee for the month! I work my first shift on Monday and I'm going to take down a cool hubby pipe fixture lamp to add some light and a couple more small tables to use for display if anything big sells this week! *Hoping!*