A lot of talk is circulating about 'How to get customers in the doors'... well, let me ask you this: If they are not coming into your store, where are they going? According to Country Living magazine, many of them are chosing to shop at events termed 'the new retail wave' (July issue).

Blending the stodgy craft & antique shows of old with the retail industry's newest fad, the high end 'pop up store', this is a new style of antique & vintage shopping event. They are being held across the country in barns, fields, warehouses, and fairgrounds. Vendors include individuals, small businesses, and shops, and products run the gamut from handmade fine art and crafts with a decidedly whimsical vibe (no crocheted potholders here), painted recyled & rescued furnishings, to French antique linens. The vendors who participate in such venues are no slackers when it comes to presenting their wares - even with just a few hours to set up their temporary spaces, visual merchandising and display tactics border on theatrical. Booths are tented, surrounded with architectural salvage, carpeted, lit by chandeliers, filled with music and scented candles to evoke another time and place - and that's just the 'set'. I haven't even begun to describe the merchandise yet!

It's clear why an artisan or small business person would sell at shows like this... but why would it be beneficial for shops to participate? Why go through all of the falderal to pack up part of your store, transport it to another location (possibly not local), unpack, and set up a temporary space - for two days?

Because that's where the shoppers are, my friends.

In the past two weeks, I've participated in two such shows. One was a small first show - but is destined to grow larger due to demand in the local market. And it was wholeheartedly supported by the local merchants - many of whom were vendors at the show. The other show is the largest in our region and one of the largest in the country, a nationally promoted, well-known and enduring (over 10 years) business with a following of rabid fans that number in the thousands. Promoted in mainstream media (Full articles and full-page print ads in Country Living magazine, where the founders are contributing editors, for one) and online, the buzz created in advance of the show is phenomenal. This show grows larger in attendance and vendor participation every year - and it is held only once a year.

How large? Held the same weekend each year at a large fairground complex in a town that is not near anything at all, the show featured 120 vendors last year. On Saturday, the first day of the show, over 5000 people poured through the doors - and many of them had stood for over three hours in a pouring rainstorm outside to get in. (After flying in or driving hours - or days - to reach the location.) Sunday netted 4000 entrants, some repeats from the day before who came back dragging friends & family with them. (Prior to being moved to the fairgrounds, the show took over an entire small town nearby). This year, the show featured 175 vendors in expanded space. Traffic was up on Saturday, to over 6500 attendees, with over 3500 coming in on Sunday. Nearly every person who attends buys something to take home as a souvenir of their trip to this show - it may be a one dollar button or a three hundred dollar table or a sixty dollar vintage dress, but even the men who brave this bastion of girliness dig up something to hand over a coin for. 'Conversion'? HAH. They walk through the door ready to spend their money!

(Can you tell me the last time 5000 shoppers came into your store on one day? Or even came onto your street on one day?)

Thing is, what the two women who run this business have created is more than an event, more than a show, more than shopping. It's a community - a community of vendors offering their very best merchandise, inspiration, and service, bringing their 'A' game to wow the shoppers. They band together to create a community determined to help each other succeed - something often lacking on Main Street. It's a community of customers who plan, save, and come ready to spend their money because they know that this is their one and only chance to do so in an environment like this. Family and friends plan and travel and gather from all over the continent to spend a few days together, celebrating, sharing, laughing, shopping, discovering. Girlfriends, mothers & daughters, sisters, cousins, old & new friends - it is a 'happening' that no one wants to miss out on. It is something they look forward to and support by wearing logo shirts (along with outrageous petticoats and cowgirl hats) and blogging about for weeks prior to and following the show. The customers and the vendors create the buzz that carries this show to a level of entertainment that many stores can only dream of - viral marketing at its best.

Though I have in the past, I do not currently own my own store. I sell my product designs exclusively at shows like this and in boutiques. But let me tell you, I see shop owners who sell tons of new merchandise in their stores jumping on this bandwagon with vigor, determined to be on the leading edge of 'the new retail wave'. They are ordering handmade wares from local artisans, carrying vintage goods and using reclaimed furniture as fixtures. They are looking at the trend and responding to it. I commend them for not sitting and complaining about empty stores and sagging sales - they are proactive, taking their business TO the customers. In this new retail picture, success requires creative thinking, risk, breaking the old rules, and hard work. And knowing that your customers are looking for an experience. Check it out. Riding this wave may just help you escape those lurking sharks.......

Need help maximizing your visual impact in your store or in a show booth? I can help. Check out the information on my design blog at http://decodivadebi.blogspot.com, and email me at Debi.WardKennedy@gmail.com for information about my services.

Show information: www.thefarmchicks.com