Parkville Riverfest

Day 1           

We entered the Parkville Riverfest show with great expectations of voluminous sales and a fun experience . Parkville is a very artsy town so we hoped that people would buy up our mod glass jewels. The first thing we did was evaluate the place we had been given.  Supposedly this can make or break your sale, at least you hear a lot of complaining or celebrating from vendors. We were in the last place at the end of a tent full of other jewelers. We were relieved that we didn't have to set up our large canopy and proceeded to do our set up.

The first day of the show was an evening from 6-10. We were very close to the music and worried that it would be so loud that we wouldn't be able to hear the customers. Fortunately the music was fine and we were able to enjoy the mix of rhythm and blues, jazz and 50's performers. If you like live music in the outdoors, grab your lawn chair next year and watch a great free music fest. We sold very little and as usual we came up with the reason for low sales. People came to hear music, not to shop. Many interested customers  were dragged away by their partners  who wanted to get a good place on the lawn. We were ok, we told ourselves, tomorrow would be a better day.

Day 2

Brief description-AWFUL!!! By far the worst sale ever. 12 hours of talking to people who walked away with nothing. Thousands of people came through (estimated crowd, 20,000) but practically nobody was buying anything. This was the case for all the vendors. Recession was very evident in Parkville. We discussed the situation and previous festivals that we had been at and came to the conclusion that we should not sign up for any further shows where funnel cakes are served. It seemed that most people at this show were there for the free music and a culinary splurge on a funnel cake and maybe a corn dog. We relieved a lot of boredom by laughing , eating a lot of starburst and writing a plan of attack for the upcoming work week. 

Day 3

The same as day 2.

Thought for the day

Owning your own business is like raising a child. There are very good days and very bad days but you go on no matter what and give your heart and soul to doing it. Only God knows how it will all turn out.