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My Journey into Wholesale Shows - Step One
By Heather Swanepoel
11/7/2008 9:29:00 PM
Step One - Booth

I am the type of person who has to break everything down, otherwise nothing gets accomplished.  After making list after list after list, I figure the best thing to start with is my small piece of real estate within The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market.  10x10, 100 square feet, there should be nothing to it.

While breaking it down, I figured it just made sense to start from the bottom up.

Floor
After attending a few of the markets as both a buyer and observer, I have found that the buyers are always referencing something, putting something away or checking their watches.  These actions mean they are constantly looking down & if they're doing that past my booth, I want to catch their eye.  So after much research, I've found some suitable options for flooring in various price ranges.  My favorites are:  FLOR especially the Fuzzy Button ($5.11/square foot) - LOVE the name; the fake wood floors from Mats Mats Mats ($2.60/square foot) - LOVE that it's squishy & of course you can't forget about all of the options from IKEA like the round Ringum rugs ($8.99 each) - LOVE the price.

Walls
It is a huge no-no, it even says so in the exhibitor handbook, to use the stock walls that is provided in the booth, this particular show has white drapes.  There are options, not sure which is best yet.  The easiest would be to go with the Foamcore walls (for about $300, from what I've been told) that can be ordered directly from the Mart & will be installed by the time we arrive to set-up.  But for many reasons, (Eco-friendly; flat walls, color choices...) I'm certainly exploring other options.  Once again, I thought I was on track and was going to make amazing drapes out of the coolest fabric (yes, I had even picked it out) until I received my exhibitor packet which states that the fabric MUST be fire retardent.  Who knew?!?!  So back to the drawing board of fabric options & researcing how to make my original idea fire retardent.

Fixtures
Now this is a challanging area for me.  There are so many different ways to take a booth like funky store to clean minimalist space.  After a small & purely unscientific poll, I found that clean, oasis, uncluttered were the prefered words to describe what my space should represent.  Luckily I have one fixture that is a staple no matter where I go or what I'm doing & will see me through Mart.  I call it the Pinwheel of Soap.  It was a perfect find at a gift store that was going out of business.  Now I have to focus on the other aspects (and products.)  After a lot of googling I found a ton of trade show display in a box type options, none of which are going to work.  We have a local fixtures store (which unbenounced to me, they are everything so if you're looking for one, just google "store fixtures Atlanta" or something similair & you'll be amazed at what all pops up) which has a million options.  They have the grid & slat walls with every imaginable accesory; showcase displays; sign holders...  And then, once again I turn to IKEA.  I love the Expedit cubbies, the BRODER shelving & love the organic look of the Gorm.

ART

Since it hangs on the walls, I didn't know what else to call it.  I am definitly going to have images of the products placed tactfully throughout the booth.  I'm just not sure how we're going to do it yet.  The final word on the walls will definitly sway the ART decision.  I found a great resource for inexpensive banners at ESigns.  Their work is great, very inexpensive & fast.  I was also considering images mounted on Foamcore (again, I can get these straight from Mart or from an outside printer like Kinkos) or even images in frames... of course IKEA will probably be the source.

From a timing standpoint, I think I'll have an overall design in mind for my space in the next couple of weeks (especially once I'm able get pricing from Mart) and start buying bits & pieces of it.  The next step is going to be Sales Materials, so stay tuned.

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Tags: trade show display, trade show components, wholesale show,
Categories: Peer-to-Peer

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Comments:

 
On Monday, December 15, 2008 freshie wrote:

I bit the bullet and bought the foam core walls - about $430 for the 10' x 10' space. I have to hang canvases and this was the only option I could think of without dragging walls down to Atlanta to set up and tear down, and I don't have time to design it properly. Maybe for the next show, I'll hire those design people to help me come up with a better solution...

I rented their lights, too, but I refuse to pay them to vacuum my booth. I also went with the "oak floor" squishy wood flooring from Mats Mats Mats but we're required to put flooring down in my section! Even more $$$$!!! This show is costing me an arm and a leg - let's hope it's all worth it!



freshie | freshie@freshieandzero.com


   
 
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