Tuesday, May 20, 2014

How Did It Go at Lucketts?

My battle cry for the past week has been, "Is it Monday yet?"  Preparations to vend at the Lucketts Spring Market, packing and setting up the booth and merchandise, and two very long days at the market itself took over my life.  (Monday represented the day when I would be finished with the market and back to whatever normal is.)  With the market behind me now, and a couple of good nights of sleep, I am ready for things to get back to normal.  Let's put Lucketts in the rear-view mirror and I will tell you all about it.

This was how the space looked when the Market opened.  The area under the canopy and the open space on the right are mine.


This year, I had to rent a small U-Haul truck to transport merchandise to the show ... picked up the truck on Thursday afternoon, and I borrowed the young man from next door to help me load the largest and heaviest pieces.  The rest of Thursday was spent consolidating smaller items and continuing to load things into the truck.  I was feeling good about my progress and I was confident that Friday (set up day) would go smoothly.

The first thing to sell was this black coffee table.  The rattan daybed in the background got a lot of attention, and it sold on Saturday afternoon.  None of the pillows did, though.


On Friday morning, I saw that I had missed a call and then received a text message from the person who was supposed to share the space and work the booth with me on Saturday.  She was unable to get things together and she was having to cancel, and she apologized profusely for the late notice.

Customers loved the bags and my husband's paintings, but none of them sold.


I tried hard not to panic.  My carefully laid plan had fallen completely apart, and I had to do what I could to put together a new plan.  Called my husband, who had already made arrangements to take an earlier flight home from his business trip in Phoenix ... new flight arrived at 3pm, instead of the original 9:30pm ... he would come straight to Lucketts from the airport to help me unload and set up.  I also would need him to help me run the booth during the show.  For this to happen, I had to arrange for someone to come to the house to let our dogs out in the afternoon ... my mom volunteered.  New plan in place, all I had to do was get to it.

This hutch didn't sell either.  Again, lots of comments and compliments, but no takers.


Friday afternoon set up at Lucketts was hectic, but fairly well organized.  The area had received an enormous amount of rain overnight, with floods and roads closed in the area.  Many of the vendors at the market were unable to drive their vehicles to their booth space to unload.  Mine was in a spot that was higher and dryer, thank goodness.  Pretty much as soon as I had parked the truck and set up the canopy over the space, my husband arrived and the rest of the unloading and set up went perfectly.

How could someone resist this vanity desk with its original Bakelite handles?  It came home with me.


Saturday morning, we arrived early to tweak the arrangement of merchandise and price the last few items before the show opened.  The sale day itself was very busy, with beautiful weather, steady traffic of customers, and brisk sales.  Both of us were so tired at the end of the day, but pleased with how it went.  The only hitch in the day was that Winnie doesn't know my mom too well yet, and she hid in her crate and quivered and wouldn't come out.  Mom did the right thing by reaching in and dragging Winnie out when it was time for her to potty.  (remember that Winnie only has one tooth, so Mom wouldn't have been hurt if Winnie had tried to bite her ... which she didn't.)  Ruby, on the other hand, LOVES her grandmother and she bounced and barked and was very happy to see her.

This was the booth on Sunday afternoon.  The Queen Anne ottoman, bucket of balusters and the little mirrors sold later, but nothing else.


Sunday sales were a bit quieter, mainly because we sold so much on Saturday and the booth was fairly empty.  Furniture was the toughest item to sell for everyone at the Market, and that's what we mostly had left on Sunday.  It was my nicest pieces, too, which were very well priced.  They just weren't what anyone was looking for.  Oh, well.

No takers for either of the compass rose tables.  Sales of the vintage flannel shirts went well, though ... and so did sales of my husband's books about how draw super heroes.


The Market closed at 5:00, and we were packed and loaded and pulling out of the lot at 6:30.  Breaking down the show was a bit hectic, as some vendors ignored the instructions on where to park and we didn't have access to our aisle to bring the truck next to the booth.  Fortunately, our space is near the parking field and we parked the truck as close as we could hand-carried our stuff over to it.

Expenses were higher for me this year, having had to rent a truck this time, but I still did okay with sales and made enough extra money so I felt okay about it.  Almost.  I have decided that I will not do this show again.  It's too far away from home, too much work that takes my attention away from my garden in the middle of rose season, and it's just not worth the stress and effort.

This is what the truck looked like after we packed up the booth on Sunday.  Large pieces are still here, but many of the smaller and more unique things went to new homes.


Did I buy anything while I was there?  With so many vendors with such great things for sale, I saw a lot of stuff that I wanted to bring home with me.  There was only one thing, though, that I loved enough to buy ... a pair of vintage 16-pane picture windows that will be a perfect addition to the north wall of my Shack.  

I am absolutely thrilled to have these, and I can't wait to repair the missing putty and give them a fresh coat of paint.


Now it's time to turn my attention back to my real love, my garden.  The early roses are starting to bloom, and the weeds are growing like, um, weeds.  I don't even mind, because now I have nothing standing in the way of continuing my work toward reclaiming my garden from the past years' neglect.  If you need me, you'll find me outside ... digging in dirt where I'm happiest.

(All of the items that survived the Market are available for sale.  If you're interested, let me know.)

17 comments:

  1. I have imagined that having a booth would be a huge amount of work, and you have confirmed this. It is good it turned out to be worthwhile for you, but like you said, a lot of work. Now you can be home and pamper your roses.

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  2. I'm so glad things went relatively well for you! I'm shocked those compass tables did not sell. They are lovely! Rest up ! Then go get your hands dirty! :) Hugs! deb

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  3. Well, that's kind of fun. It's nice to see things sell.

    I did an art show once. Framed a bunch of my paintings, hauled them up to Vermont, set up the booth, stood there all weekend schmoozing with people and I sold one painting. It was a ton of work, I lost a ton of money but I was psyched to get feedback and sell one painting.

    Weird about the pillow and bags though.

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  4. Your booth looked fantastic. So many treasures! Hard to believe the hutch and compass tables didn't sell, but like you said, it depends on what the folks who come through are looking for.

    Selling is rewarding, but really so much work. Have fun communing with your roses. :)

    I have some weeds calling me now, aarrgh.

    Pam

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  5. I got a call from my almost DIL on Sunday saying she was at this fab. market called Lucketts...I thought of you and hoped it was going well.

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  6. Glad it went well, but I think you will probably be happier just staying closer to your garden next year. Furniture seems to be a tough sell lately, but your pieces are gorgeous!
    hugs, Linda

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  7. Doing shows is hard work. I'm surprised at what didn't sell, but the antique/collectibles market is always unpredictable. I'm glad you did well, in that you paid your expenses and had some extra $$ afterwards. I can certainly understand your not wanting to do the show again.

    Now, get out and play in your lovely gardens.

    FlowerLady

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  8. I so wanted to go, but other events overtook my weekend. I am so surprised about the compass rose tables, I especially like one of them a lot! The footstool with the drawer, oh my gosh that would be perfect for a sewing room! I still think you should have a sale at your place, along with open rose days! Miss you!

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  9. Dirt Therapy is next! I'm glad you have survived your busy schedule.

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  10. Ooh, I like Lady Courtney’s idea. You could decorate the Shack with your lovely things and work out there too. Good thinking. The best of all worlds ~ as much as you love maintaining your garden you also love the work you do refurbishing. Always a pleasure to peek in on your busy days. I’m in the garden too!!

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  11. I think the chicken painting is destined to reside in my daughter,s chicken coop home in Marietta Georgia. I sent you an email for. Details, Eagiffin@yahoo.com in. Case the message didn't, get through. Ellie reuter

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  12. Yeah, those flea markets. In years past my bf and I used make a month's earnings over the weekend--but it just isn't like that anymore.
    It's too much work for the end results, so I'm out (until further notice).
    btw--I would've totally worked you for that window! ; D
    Catherine

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  13. You had such pretty and interesting things. I am sorry the sales were poor.

    I put a link to my Pinterest on the sidebars on my blogs. Thanks for the reminder, Connie.

    I hope you are not disappointed that all the best things are Hidden Pins. That's another trick I learned, Pinning a dozen at once in a Hidden Board, you don't spam others. Choicest Pins can be moved out of Hidden but not the other way 'round.

    AND if it is a Flickr source or something else that I doubt belongs to the OP, it remains hidden.

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  14. Sounds like a lot of work, but you pulled it off beautifully!

    xo Kat

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  15. So much hard work you put into this. I do hope you had enough sales to warrant all that work. It's surprising what people buy at things like this. I really liked some of your tables and furniture.

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  16. Glad that Luckett's went reasonably well for you and I'm sure you are glad it is behind you. I have done enough furniture shows to agree with you that they are just way too much work and I'm getting way to old to be hauling furniture, plus, I don't have a husband to help me. These days, you'll find me in the garden too and the only furniture I'm looking at, is the things others have done.
    Cindy

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  17. I am exhausted just reading this, and need to go lie down now....
    Cass

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