We’re Home From Market!

Greetings to all!

Well, we’re back from another excursion to market in Dallas. It was a whirlwind trip as we had to combine Spring/Summer purchases as well as Autumn/Fall into this trip. Usually, we go in the summer to purchase our next year’s spring/summer products, but we didn’t go last year in the summer. So, it was quite packed with running here and there, finding new lines, and then placing the orders. We shopped all day and crashed in our hotel room every evening. Was it fun? You bet. Was it exhausting? Oh my!

I had someone ask the question on Facebook what market was all about. So I promised my readers that I would do a newsletter on what it is. Understand, this is not a comprehensive post about what to expect. Just the highlights.

We start our trip out by rising at 4:30 in the morning, getting ready and meeting at a turnpike entrance where my husband drops me off with my partner/daughter April. To arrive at market it is about a 5 1/2 hour trip depending on from where we leave. And of course, how bad the traffic and weather is. We have to stop for coffee in Oklahoma City, or we’re worthless the rest of the trip. And believe me, the closer we get, the more excited we get.

As we arrive at the market in Dallas on the first day since it is close to noon, we have to park quite a long way away. But this year there was a tram that transported us both to the market and when we left, back to our parking garage.

Then we hit the ground running. We go to our favorites vendors, scope out the product lines, check the prices and the quality, as well as the value. By the time we do that, it’s usually 6:00 and we’re headed to get something for dinner and head back to the hotel to jump in bed. We are usually exhausted, but inspired.

The next day we start to order products. This is a very exhausting process, because there are so many things to remember. I remember our very first market over 30 years ago. We thought that when you went to market you would get everything then and haul it home. I laugh about that now, Just shows you how small minded we were. There are places where you can purchase items, like some purchases of jewelry and clothes. But we do very little cash and carry orders. Most all of our orders are shipped to us on a designated basis and we receive them here at the shop. Large orders come to us on a pallet stacked high with products, and the rest comes to us by FedEx or UPS.

I don’t know if you have purchased a product from a catalog or online and when you received it, you thought it didn’t look at all like the picture you saw of it. I have! And, I don’t want that to happen to my customers. We want to review the products and make sure they are the quality our customers have come to expect. Most of the time, it is exactly as we saw at market. However, they have had a few products that we find unacceptable even after we’ve seen them at market. We send them back to the company, usually. If they won’t accept them back, we don’t do business with that company in the future. We don’t take a chance on getting burned another time.

Most of the items, we have to buy 6 at a time. Sometimes, the quantities that you have to buy are less. Sometimes more. Each vendor is different

One of the biggest reasons we go to market is we want to stay current with the trends as well as learn so much from many of the top designers in the country. It’s like a symposium for small business owners.

After 4 days of non-stop shopping–we’re done! Now we’re headed home, inspired and ready to get on with the next season’s staging of the shop and working on getting products ready for our wonderful customers.

I must say, our trip home is relatively quiet because we are exhausted and in overload of ideas and inspiration. But, we’re ready to come home and get on with real life.

As always, I can’t wait to get these products in and staged in the shop. I plan on doing some different types of promotions that are live on FB. I know a lot of you don’t do FB, so I’ll try to figure out creative ways to promote different items in my emails. Although, the best part of the business is seeing you in person.

We haven’t got the schedule ready for this year, but we’re looking at our first event being in March. Every year the excitement of turning the shop into a spring wonderland makes me motivated and inspired to get out of bed every morning.

I would love to hear what you do to keep yourself motivated and inspired. And as always, I’m moving forward getting ready for the next big thing!

Blessings and keep the faith!

Debbie