[jlpumkin]

Anyone have success with a craft mall venture? My local mall requires a 6 month lease and I'm nervous about committment. But it sure does seem convenient - sort of my own little store with no working it. The foot traffic at this one isn't as busy as I would like, though a lot of their traffic comes from a beauty salon next door. This works great for me since I sell soap & bath products, I think that would be a lot of my target market. Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions, things to consider?
Thanks in advance

 

[thriftyqueen]

Could you contact the beauty salon and see if they would be interested in selling your products? Sometimes businesses will do this on a consignment basis or will purchase wholesale. This would be a good way to reach your target market.

 

[E.V. Lowi]

I make Waldorf dolls and other natural handmade toys. I had a booth at a Craft Mall and yes there was a six month lease. I didn't sell a single item, but several things were shoplifted from my booth. It was very disheartening. My stuff would get really shopworn from shoppers who would 'manhandle' things. I don't think there was enough supervision as there is in a small boutique. Sorry, but it wasn't great for me.

 

[jlpumkin]

E V Lowi - thanks - this is exactly what I'm looking for, some folks that have btdt... I'll keep it in mind. I keep seeing these posts that say "sell at craft malls" here and on other boards but haven't yet met anyone who does so successfully. Anyone????

 

[marisa]

I second the post about consigning your products. Even if not at the beauty salon; another small, local business may be looking to inexpensively expand their inventory and consigning would be just the thing. Once you've proven you've got a product that will move, you could renegotiate the terms with them and sell it wholesale.
Any craft mall I've ever been to in my area is mostly frequented by old ladies so I don't have any experience selling there. Another thing to think about, I don't know if you're selling naturally scented products (essential oils and such) but I've found it's hard to convert those accustomed to highly artificially fragranced beauty products to buy naturally scented. In those cases, you really need to find your niche customers who maybe have skin sensitivity issues etc.