This year we've decided to grow our wholesale market. In order to do so you need to get out there and try different wholesale trade shows. We've always displayed at local gift and craft shows and occasionally you'll pick up wholesale accounts.
We set up our products at the Columbus Marketplace in Dublin, Ohio as one of their temporary exhibits for the August show.
Let me fist start by saying that the people that operate the Columbus Marketplace are wonderful to work with. The sales reps from the permanent show rooms are warm and receptive to the temporary exhibitors. The sales reps may pick up your line and carry them in their show room. So it's a great opportunity.
The show wasn't as busy as I thought it would be. I was told from others that regularly set up as a temp exhibitor that it was slower than usual. You have to learn to accept these things and judge for yourself if you want to try the show again.
We will try it again. I'm leaning towards the March show. If you have gift items that would be a good fit for hospital gift shops I was told that's when a lot of buyers from hospitals come in to see what's new.
The days of the show are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday is optional. We opted out of Tuesday. Expect Friday and Saturday to be slow. Personally I think it was slow on those days because most shop owners are at their stores on Friday and Saturday. A lot of gift shops are closed on Sunday and Monday. Sunday and Monday were by far the busiest days.
Over all we had a good experience. I would give it 3 stars out of 5. The only reason it's not higher is their wasn't enough volume of buyers.
We gained some new accounts we would not have gotten had we not been there. It's always nice to meet the buyers and build a relationship with them. After all when we all work together they help your business grow and you can tell them first hand the benefits of carrying your product line.
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| Chickenmash Farm booth display at Columbus Marketplace |
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