Booth Thoughts

35 again this morning. We had sleet yesterday morning that coated the van and deck, but soon melted. Some parts of West Virginia had a good snow cover.

The Ravenswood antique mall is taking a good bit of my time this weekend. We worked on our booths Friday, and then I worked yesterday afternoon and will work today to give the owner a little time off. Remember how I was the backup to the backup to the backup? Suddenly those others were no longer able to work--one moved, one quit, and one is caring for his wife who is ill at the moment. So here I am, the backup. It's okay since there's no garden work or canning pressuring me at this time of year, and I get a lot of work done in my own booths while I'm there. Booths are like housework, never finished.

It's been nice to meet people, and see folks I haven't seen for a while. Yesterday a lady came in and I knew I'd met her before but couldn't think where. It turns out that we'd lent her our honey extractor about 5 years ago. Her bees also died out as ours did, and she misses them too. We may get another hive this year, just to have the pollination.

One thing I've noticed when I work is that there are a lot of young people coming in and buying. Young men come in for vintage comic books, political buttons and movie/cartoon stuff. Men in their 30's are buying old tools--axes, planes, saws and the like. The interesting thing is that these guys all know what they are looking for, and some even have a depth of knowledge about their interest area that's pretty astounding. 

Young women come in for unique decor, and there are some who are also collectors of things like handbags, vintage jewelry, and yesterday a girl in her late 20's-early 30's who bought over 600 dollars worth of oil lamps. She collects them and has over 100 already. 

There are also the young couples who come in looking for furnishings. They want something different, something old with character, or just something they can afford. New furniture is expensive these days, but in places like antique malls there are pieces well within range for young marrieds. And since we offer layaway, they have the option of paying over time with no interest.

Of course, there are plenty of older people too, probably the bulk of the customers. They come in search of memories, occasionally to add to a collection, or just to browse. The mall has a large used book area and we sell a lot of books to the older customers.

Until recently about half of the customers were from out-of-state, coming in off the interstate to take a break. These visitors are often collectors or even dealers, and they buy a good bit as our prices are lower than the cities they call home.

Right now, Christmas decor is a hot item. I still have some fall things out but will pack them up and replace them with Christmas because no one is even looking at them. I thought perhaps I'd leave them til Thanksgiving, but have changed my mind as I watch the shoppers.

You can see the advantage of working there, can't you? I've had a chance to see what people are looking for and who our customers are. It's already made me buy some different things to add to my booths, like political buttons and more tools. I wouldn't want to work this much all the time, but it's been a good education.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.