For the past year I have been renting a booth at craft fairs once per month. Attleboro’s Expo for the Senses was the best run fair that I have participated in. Abby Rovaldi, Attleboro Arts Museum Program Coordinator, made sure the fair was advertised throughout the city and a flyer was included with everyone’s water bill. Two weeks before the fair all vendors received a map of the fair’s layout with their booth space clearly marked. Music, face painting and other events were located throughout the fair grounds so instead of taking away traffic from the vendor booths as often happens, these special events actually drew customers to all the booths. No vendor was in an isolated corner. Perhaps the vendors on Park Street had an advantage but traffic was steady and more important, people were buying, not just browsing. I sold several books as well as bracelets and chaplets.
The night before the fair I packed my car so in the morning I could focus on eating a good breakfast. It is important to eat well before arriving at a fair because you never know when you will be able to eat once the fair starts. Also, setting up and breaking down a craft booth uses lots of energy and you want to be sure you are well fed and well hydrated throughout the day. The Expo for the Senses started at noon so I thought a large breakfast supplemented by snacking on trial mix would carry me through to the end of the fair and I wouldn’t need to buy or bring lunch. By the end of the day I had a headache and was weak from not having consumed an adequate number of calories. In the future I will bring lots of food and at least four bottles of water.
The day before the fair I studied the driving directions and made sure I knew where I was going. The directions provided by the Expo promoters didn’t take into account some people like myself would not be coming from the interstate but would be driving through the city streets to the fair grounds. I wasn’t sure where and when the police would be blocking city streets. After studying the map of the fair grounds and where I was supposed to register, I decided to make a large loop around the city center so I would approach the fair from the south. At Union and Mill Streets police were directing traffic away from the fair. I pointed to my exhibitors pass on my dashboard. The cop waved me towards the barrier, gave me additional directions to the fair grounds and wished me luck. I smiled, thanked him and said, “God bless” as I drove passed the barriers down deserted Union Street towards Gilbert Perry Square.
There was another set of barriers near the red brick bus shelter. I stopped and looked around. I saw a driveway off to my right between the shelter and the old post office. I had never really paid attention to it before. Before the post office closed it must have served the mail trucks. I saw a card table set up to the left of the driveway with some papers. That must be the registration table, I thought. I hesitated. No one was there yet. I was fifteen minutes early. Then I noticed some other exhibitors setting up their tents. Darn, I thought. I could have come earlier and given myself more time to set up. I drove around the barriers and into the lot. The spaces were clearly marked and numbered with chalk. 30, 31, 32, 33. To my delight my booth would be shaded by some tress. I unloaded as quickly as I could not wanting to obstruct traffic and wanting as much time as possible to set up my tent and display.
While I was unloading more people arrived and Abby stopped by on her way to the registration table. She handed me a welcome packet and instructions as to where to park my car. After I finished unloading I drove around the old post office past the other exhibitors who were setting up. I stopped. An exhibitor’s van blocked the exit. I worried about losing time to set up my tent. I honked my horn and waved at the women. “You’re in the way,” I shouted.
“We’re setting up,” they replied. “This is our space.”
“Move your van so I can get out,” I called back. They moved their van forward further blocking my exit. Irritated I squeezed between their canopy and their van. Carefully I drove off the curb. Once on Park Street I drove towards the VNA parking lot. They don’t get it, I thought. They are blocking people’s exit and will create a log jam if they don’t move that van.
After I parked my car I walked back to my booth space and began setting up. This was my first event on black top instead of grass so I had practiced setting up in my driveway several times so I knew what I was doing. I removed my tent from its bag and carefully opened it by pulling gently on each leg. Then I got under the tent and pushed on the rafter to move corner up until it locked. Once my tent was up I lashed my pvc pipe weights to each leg without any trouble. The heavy work done I stopped to survey the area and decided not to put on the fabric sides. It was a hot summer day and I wanted to catch as much air as possible. I folded the sides and put them into my plastic bins which I covered with cloth and placed the corrugated cardboard display shelf on top. After I set up my tables I began putting my chaplets and rosaries on the tables. While I was hanging the foam board display about Not of My Making the wind picked up and knocked over my light weight aluminum tables sending my rosaries and chaplets sprawling on the ground. The wood frames holding chaplets on my wood counter also blew over.
As I scrambled to pick everything up I remembered at the last fair my neighboring vendor had remarked that my merchandise hadn’t blown over like hers because my tent sides served as a wind break. I had to dismantle my book display to retrieve the fabric sides. It would have been easier if I had hung up the sides before putting out my merchandise. I hung the sides on the top side bars of the tent. This did decrease the wind rushing through my booth but the fabric bellowed knocking over my display along the back wall. As I scrambled to pick things up for a second time and still be ready for the start of the fair I wished I had brought weights to tie to the table legs or had finished my pvc pipe frame to block the billowing fabric sides.
Holy Ghost Chaplet
As I picked up my chaplets and display tables I noticed my Holy Ghost chaplet was missing. I searched under the tables but could not find it. Panic rose in my throat and my stomach churned. Where was it? Had someone taken it while I struggled with my tent? I had read that shop lifting does occur at fairs but I didn’t want to make any false accusations. Who would steal prayer beads? More likely it was somewhere on the ground and I would find it during take down. Choking back tears I finished putting up my display and took a seat in my chair. I took some slow deep breaths. I remembered how at the end of an indoor fair I had left my foam board book display lying face down while I loaded my car. When I returned I found a footprint with a piece of gum on the back of my foam board. I pickled up my board and looked around. The footprint was clearly the vendor’s next to my booth. She was the only one wearing heeled shoes. I assumed she was jealous. Perhaps she thought I had stolen sales away from her. I said nothing and finished loading my car. The odds of running into her again were low. I took some slow deep breaths and prayed that this wasn’t another case of malice and that I might find my chaplet when I broke down my tent.
When the sides bellowed again I stood up and positioned myself in front of the back wall with my arms and legs spread out preventing my tables from being knocked over again. As the fabric blew away from the table I spotted my chaplet near the back canopy leg. Relieved I scooped it up and set it in its display frame. It was then I realized I needed to hang the sides on the lower bar of my tent creating a space along the top for the wind to blow through. Bingo! The fabric stopped billowing.
Despite the struggle with the wind the day turned into a success. Unlike the previous fair I set up my book display near the front of the tent. 
My daughter had given be a good tip and I used binder clips to hang my foam board by the entrance to my booth. I also put both my button jewelry and my bracelets on the display counter. Without any effort a pair of my button earrings sold. Soon people were looking over my merchandise including my book. I placed bookmarks near my books and offered them to anyone who showed a interest in reading. This was different than the last show where I handed out bookmarks to all passerbys. I think it was a good compromise and required me to be alert to those who showed some interest in my book.
A woman who was volunteering at the animal shelter booth stopped by. They were having trouble with their tent blowing over. I showed her my tent weights and told her she could get directions on how to make them on the internet. We talked briefly. She showed some interest in the book but said she would buy it after the show. I had learned from a Barnes & Noble event planner that people don’t want to be identified as survivors of abuse. So it is important for me to offer an anonymous way for them to purchase my book. Amazon and B&N Online provides them with that service. After every fair my sales on Amazon and B&N increase. So in addition to providing me a place to sell my books fairs increase my book’s visibility.
While I didn’t lose any money at The Expo for the Senses, I’ve yet to make a profit. There have been up front costs like the purchase of the tent, jewelry stands, plastic containers and so on. I also have put in a lot of sweat equity too. I sewed table covers, made jewelry cards, built a display table out of honeycomb cardboard and made tent weights out of pvc pipe and cement. I am also building a pvc pipe frame to hang pictures and merchandise from. Once my display is completed there will be less work. I expect just as with a brick and mortar store it will take a few seasons to establish my brand, create a following and become profitable.
