IN HOME SHOWS

Planning a show in your home?

We are having our 3rd Annul In-Home Show Saturday/Sunday, November 29/30 from 9 am to 9 pm if anyone living in our area would like to come. Please e-mail me at kmprimitives@yahoo.com and I will send you details. We are in Burlington, the southeast part of Wisconsin.

Here are a few tips to consider

1. Send out invitations at least 2 weeks prior to show. Put large ad in papers at least 2 weeks before show and then the week before the show put a small reminder in.
2. Have more than enough small bills and change. Sometimes customers only have a $20 or a $50 if you are their first stop!
3. Be ready for a large crowd the first 3 hours of your sale - this is when the bulk of the customers show up so be prepared. It tends to get less after that and by the last 2 hours there are usually just a couple here and there.
4. Have one door for entrance and one for exit to prevent crowding at the doors.
5. Have spotters in all rooms. You may have friends bringing friends but you still don’t know who their friends are…it’s not a nice way to feel, but believe me it’s better to have someone in each room even if to help the customers.
6. Also make sure these spotters can help the customers as well such as getting familiar with prices and if you have more than the one of something in your inventory.
7. Offer your customers Special Orders if they don’t want to purchase ones you have - like different colors or sizes. Every order adds up!!!
8. Use Homespun fabrics to cover tables - use risers in the centers of your tables to get your items up off the flat surface - stage your products to make it more appealing to your customers.
9. Give them ideas - you really have to show people the different ways they can use the items you are selling. For instance BOWL FILLERS...put some Rosehips or Potpouri in a wooden bowl and put in the bowl fillers. Take some of your items and make an arrangement or a gathering of them.
10. Take plain candles and wrap them in grungy gauze or take some Kraft package wrapping paper, cut strips to go around the candle, rub it with a coffee/cinnamon/vanilla mixture (very thin) and tie it with some coffee dyed butchers string or twine...put a small sprig of Sweet Annie behind the string or tie two grungy bells onto the string. You have to catch their eye!!!
11. Keep your check-out area spacious so your customer can set their items down and have a place to open their purse and or write a check.
12. Wrap breakable items when possible and items that may snag on fabric items. So stock up on tissue paper.
    You can buy boxes of plastic bags at places like Office Depot, Office Max - Something like 250 bags for $5.00.
13. Have helpers wrapping and bagging so customers don’t have to wait too long in line.
    Try and have small baskets by the entrance door for ease in carrying the smaller items they pick up.
14. Have light finger snacks at the end of the show area such as where they are checking out. Things like cookies, brownies, assorted candies and to make wonderful aromas in the air, hot mulled cider, hot chocolate.
15. Set aside a space for signing up for the door prize if you are offering one. People won’t sign up if it’s crowded and they can’t get into the space.
16. Most of all be friendly to each customer as if they are the only one there.
    Put a business card in with each receipt.

I hope I have helped you with your HOME SHOW!

We have had much success by following these guidelines.

Here’s a few pictures of last years show in our home.