We get a lot of emails and phone calls from people around the country wanting information on how to get a booth in our store. We currently have a waiting list so if you want a booth please send us an email of what you will be selling and a good phone number so we can contact you when we have a booth opening. Some are from long time vendors and some from people who want to try it for the first time.
First I thought I would explain what our store offers so you can compare it to others you may be considering. We have electric power at nearly every booth. Our store is well lit and we have wide aisles for customers to walk down - plenty of room for wheel chairs or walkers. We also set up our store so that everything is on a simple to follow grid with lettered rows and each booth numbered. You are not following some maze. Our store also has a huge parking lot right in front of the store with plenty of lighting at night. A safe and secure place to park and shop.
Customers love the fact that we have two sizes of shopping carts available. We also have a separate loading area for picking up larger items that does not interfere with the convenient front door checkout. We have elected to provide our customers with a variety of soft drinks and water at the best prices in the area. Complementary coffee is also provided all day long. Customers can also place higher priced items on layaway for 30 days!
We also provide daily emails of your sales. Once a week we also send you a month to date recap of your sales. Usually we do this on Monday if I remember to push the button. We have also launched our new on line Market Place where not only can your items be for sale in the store - they will have nationwide exposure. On our web site you will notice we have a place for people to contact the store if they have things for sale. We pass these leads on to our vendors via email so they have first chance at new merchandise.
In addition to the rented booth space our vendors can place bigger furniture on our furniture floor for sale.
What makes for a successful booth? The simple answer is price - vendors need to buy cheap and sell cheap. But price is only part of the equation. It does no good to have great prices if everything is just stuffed into your booth., You need to set your booth up to present your items to the customer. Most people shop from the knees to the shoulder. Small things on the floor will generally be ignored. You need to keep your booth clean and neat. If you sell clothes or toys then you will need to spend a lot more time working your booth. Clothes and toys tend to end up on the floor and makes the booth look junky. There is a danger in having too much "Stuff" in your booth. If it is too cluttered customers will just walk by. Having a booth that has a theme and great eye appeal is the secret to great sales.
It is also a good idea to change the look of your booth every few months. We have a lot of repeat customers always looking for new and different things. If you booth never changes they tend to just walk by it. Keep it look fresh and inviting. People are always looking for good deals and most of them want quality. If all you have to offer is wal mart overstock items from china the chances are you will not be successful. Keep a wide variety.
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