Next time you’ve wandering around a craft fair looking at the plethora of locally made produce, spare a thought for the people behind the scenes who help make it all happen. After months of cutting, gluing, draping, whittling, wrapping, and packing the exhausted stallholders you see before you have one more challenge ahead … to perfect a genuine smile while repeating the same refrain over and over and over again.
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Today I dipped my toes into the secret world of the stallholder, by setting up a Me Time stall.
Now as I sit on my couch, feet up tea in hand, staring at the suitcase yet to be unpacked, I find myself pondering eleven things that make being a stallholder enjoyable rather than tolerable.
Firstly a great support crew who cheer you on in the months leading up to the fair, who lovingly iron tablecloths, help you wrangle with a new gazebo in a trial run at home, and generally give sound advice. A great friend who gives up family time to beautifully wrap items, make a fantastic gift basket and then join you sitting at the stall all day … on a Sunday
Fantastic Organisation
With the stall opening to the public at 9am we arrived around 7am. Driving in we were told to turn on our hazard lights and make our way to the other side of the oval. There our flashing lights signalled that we had a carload of produce to unload … the fact that the back of some of the cars were dragging on the ground could have been another giveaway. More on the organisation below.
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An army of seven dwarf garden gnomes
As we unloaded an army of Uni Camp For Kids volunteers arrived carrying massive wheelbarrows. Looking like a cross between the seven dwarfs and garden gnomes, the trail of human ants whisked our boxes, suitcases and gazebos off and out of sight.
After parking the car we arrived at stall # 132 only to find that our stuff had already arrived and been placed on the table.
And so we were left to put up the gazebo. A trial run at home had got us half way, but lack of space on the front lawn, and growing embarrassment as neighbours wandered by, meant we abandoned the trial early.
With the morning heat already nearing 30 degrees there was no way we were going to struggle on just the two of us. Instead the first male within 100 metres was roped in to help. It was only after he’d put up our gazebo and the ladies in the neighbouring stall, that we realised he was a stallholder not a volunteer.
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Not only that, after helping us all out he headed towards a small gas burner and started cooking curry in the heat!
So I have to give a huge shout out to Mr Turbin Chopstiks and his patient wife who allowed her husband to help us all.
I’m a firm believer that random acts of kindness should be passed on, so I’m delighted to give you the link to their business. You may have seen them before they’re at most of the fairs cooking up a storm and handing out a mountain of free produce. Their spices are delicious, so please check them out www.turbanchopsticks.com.au
They also get to the eastern states so look out for them.
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A design consultant
Having a friend who really should be a design consultant also helps, as she set about decorating the table.
The warm stallholder community
Before the public arrived a quick trip around the fairgrounds resulted in a raft of friendly ‘hellos’ and ‘good luck’ from other stallholders.
Getting over your shyness and pushing yourself to say hello to passers-by rather than hope they wander past and like your stuff. I’m always amazed by how interesting people’s stories are, and it’s often the ones you least expect who have the best tales to tell or advice to give.
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Realistic expectations
Setting a realistic sales expectation helps. Even better when this is exceeded within the first couple of hours.
Look beyond sales
Sure we need to recoup the financial outlay from hiring the stall but there are other ways to measure your success e.g. the number of brochures taken, interesting contacts made, or just experiencing it all with a friend
The power of fans
No not Justin Bieber style fans, on a 36 degree morning I mean real fans. Two $9 plastic fans brought from OfficeWorks were a hit with all around us. I could have sold them a thousand times over. They also proved interesting as people leaned into the stall, as I thrust the fan in their face. Amazingly no members of the public were harmed during this process.
Knowing when to cut and run
By 11am the temperature hovered around 36 degrees, the 1.5 litre frozen bottle of water had been drained, the ice blocks were taken out of the esky and strategically placed around my person. Two down my back one in my cleavage and half a dozen discretely balanced under my hat. An hour later the sky was black, rumbling and flashing with light. Suddenly the idea of sitting under a metal gazebo watching our supply of Me Time books turn to papier-mâché lost it’s gloss. Time to move.
Within seconds the seven dwarfs emerged, now heavily disguised under kids face painting masks of tigers and butterflies. The gazebo was lowered, and the car packed as our white shirts rapidly turned into a wet t shirt competition.
Now, pondering the success of the day I’d measure it in these terms …
Sure I came away having covered my costs, made a profit and gained some great contacts. However the true success was the wonderful spirit of the organisers, volunteers, the people who dropped by our stall and my wonderful support crew. It truly warmed my heart to see people of all ages and races working together to make the day great. This is something I’ll be pondering about for years to come.
Apologies to anyone who tried to find us after we’d left, and if you entered our Me Time Pamper Pack raffle, it’s been drawn and the winner notified. We still have a couple of the Christmas wrapped books available if you’re interested just contact me. Lastly I highly recommend the Subiaco Craft Fair put on by the Rotary Club of Matilda Bay http://www.subiacocraftfair.org.au/
