BUSINESS: First Timers Notes From The Country Living Magazine Fair
The idea of exhibiting at a large retail or trade show might seem daunting. To reassure you that the reality is manageable and shed a little light on what it's actually like, we have asked a first time exhibitor at Country Living Magazine Fair, the very talented illustrator and designer Mary Kilvert, to share her personal experience.
About: The Country Living Magazine Fair was launched in London in 1992 to bring the pages of Country Living Magazine to life. There are now three Fairs held each year, the Spring and Christmas Fairs in London and the Christmas Fair in Scotland which combined attract over 70,000 visitors.
At last year's Christmas Fair, there were 431 designers, small producers, independent retailers and crafts people from across Britain taking stands and all of the businesses that exhibit are hand picked by the Country Living Magazine team. I decided to exhibit at the Fair because I had visited the year before and was impressed with how busy it was and I thought that my products would suit the customers that were there.
The Stand: The run up to the show was hard work so be prepared for hard graft, but I learnt a lot and it was also great fun. I started by designing the stand. I knew I wanted a country/farm style look, so I collected props and furniture whenever I went to antique markets. Country Living is a retail show rather than a trade show, so I needed to think about where to keep stock without the stand looking too cluttered. I also found out that you can apply for extra storage space before the show, which I found really helpful.
Marketing: The show was as busy as I expected it to be. Although the show attracts many visitors in general, I found that the marketing I did before the show paid off, for example, my newsletter attracted a lot of people to visit my stand and view my new products, which I launched at the show. I really enjoyed meeting customers and getting feedback on my products. It was lovely when customers made a special effort at the start of the day to visit my stand.
Networking: There were many lovely designers exhibiting at Country Living, some I had the pleasure of meeting including: Chase & Wonder, Elsy & Vine, Emily Maude, Poppy Treffry, Emma Hardicker, Made In Pixeland, Halinka’s Fairies and many others!
Overall I found it a great experience exhibiting at Country Living.
To find out more about Mary and her work visit:
You might also find the following articles useful:
- Trade Fair Dos and Don'ts
- British Craft Trade Fair First Timers
- Preparing for your First Craft Fair
- Top 10 Tips for Craft Fair Traders
Comments
Great
Have been the the CLF many times, and have always dreamed of having my own stall... but not sure I crochet enough in a year to fill a stall for the event... loved this. Thanks for the info.Post new comment