Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Made in Canada Etsy Show

It's been a few days and I am still exhausted from the Etsy Made in Canada show on September 26th. The sheer amount of preparation that went into the show was itself exhausting, from my trusty printer breaking down in August to a supply shipment that was lost in the mail. I was afraid of not having enough inventory and started getting up early in the mornings to cut paper, trim magnets and print design sheets. Nine to do lists kept me on track :)
It was worth it though as customers were lining up outside bright and early to get in! I have only seen that kind of enthusiasm at the comic expo. The time to wait in line varied from 20 to 60 minutes...when I managed to sneak away for a bathroom break, the line was still winding through Golden Acres Garden Sentre and out the door. I wasn't able to get a picture of my table either because I could just not get in front of it :)
Speaking of Golden Acres, the staff were so helpful to the vendors. It was a unique location and bedecked with orange Etsy flags. It rained in the morning, though, and drips happened throughout the day. That's why I plastic wrap everything...in fact just after a staffer gave me a flower pot to catch the water and joked about it with a customer, someone had a coffee spill :D Sales were really good and steady and a lot of old customers stopped by. Four people used Square, which was pretty amazing too! I was also able to test out a new foam board display that worked like a charm!