A Stall Face Lift

Over the past few weeks my stall display has gone through a lot of changes. Mostly this came from a decision not to sell haberdashery supplies a the market anymore. When I looked at it I was allocating 1/5 of my space to selling buttons, and they just weren't making me any money. On top of this I ended up in endless conversations with people about buttons, but then they wouldn't buy anything. When I realised that they were becoming a drain on space, my time and energy I decided to to cut them out. Now I only sell my supplies in my Nice Day Supplies shop, which I'm currently trying to get back in order.

Now with all the extra space I was able to put out new stock, a friend got a large magnet board for me in Ikea, which means I can sell magnets separately now and it also helps to show off my ABC sets(which are now selling much better thanks to the improved display).

I also expanded my range of shrink plastic jewellery, I've now started making brooches and necklaces(more on them later in the week) Not only did I broaden my designs I also improved the packaging and display for the earrings. I couldn't believe the difference in sales, just by putting the earrings on a little card.

I wanted to play with the levels on my stall, to create depth and interest, and not just rely on using notice boards. I read this great guide to improving your display and I fell in love with the idea of sing a suitcase. I got the box in Guineys for €20 and then I used some scrap fabric I had to line the inside of it to brighten it up. I covered a small canvas I had with some gingham wrapping paper to tie in with the blue of my table cloth and logo. I inserted a covered shoe box to bring up the level inside the box, then I placed my new cup pincushions on top.

The ring display was a genius idea of my fathers, he is friends with some jewelers in Dublin and he asked them for a ring tray , knowing I needed a neater way to display my rings. Yet again this little tweak brought me a lot more sales than normal. I think people can see them a lot better this way, rather than jumbled up in a pot.

Overall I'm delighted with my new look, I could definitely feel that the public were engaging with the pieces a lot better and easier, and a lot more people were stopping to browse. When I think about that the display I had before, and how in a few small ways it really wasn't working, it just goes to show it's worth reassessing your packaging/display/work, just to see what can be improved.

Ps: Speaking of face lifts, I did a bit of work on the landing page for my facebook page. A while ago I started using Pagemodo which allows you to have info/images that people land on when they first see your facebook page, instead of seeing the clutter of the wall. What I had posted was fine, but I was unhappy with the layout of their template, and it didn't feel in any way crafty or innovative. So I put aside an hour last night and I made a single image in photoshop with integrated text. I'm much happier with how this looks, and it reflects the look of my website too. I used the fun Polaroid app that I mentioned last week for the images.