Evergreen (Or What I want To Be When I Grow Up)

I have been driving  to The Lake of the Ozarks for 6 weeks now. I have been getting knee injections to help make my life a lot more comfortable. I go in and get my shots and then go shopping! The shopping part makes the injections worthwhile. Anywho, one day I went in to Evergreen. They are a silk flower shop that is only open during the tourist season. I have known about the place for 8  years or so from when I and my family had lived here last time. So I was chomping at the bit to get in and see what it was like. Barbara, the super nice lady who used to run the preschool for my church, tipped me off to the place way back when. I am so glad I remembered her recommendation. I was not disappointed. Get ready for some eye candy!

This huge crystal ball greets you when you walk in. It spins too!

It is like walking into a really well appointed jungle.

Look up, there is beauty

Everywhere.

Shelves are bursting with pretty things that make you want to take all of it home.

How about some of this, or a little of that?

I soooo want my shop to be this exiting. (When I get one, that is).

That is an upside down wrought iron tree made into a chandelier. Genius!

I love the explosion of color everywhere.

What a cute birdcage.

These are the folks who dream it all up, them and the owner. But I didn't get a picture of him. Don't you love the canoe? It goes with the whole Lake of the Ozarks thing going on around here.

I should have bought these.

Can you imagine getting to make all these cool floral arrangements for your job every day? That would be so fun.

I want to get this layered look in my antiques booth, and later on in my store. Like the title says; I want to be like this when I grow up. (I'm 41).

So I will remain hopeful and keep pressing on through my business classes in college. I will keep learning hands on retailing out of my antiques booths, and I will continue to gather ideas from stellar businesses like this one.

If you are ever in the area, this is one stop you just have to make. By the way, they did not pay me to make this post. They don't even know I did. I just love to toot other peoples horns when they do something fabulous. I'm even going to pin my own post because I think the world should know what a cool place this is.

Before and After

Recently I re-did my big antique booth at Heartland Antique Mall. It is located on east bound interstate 44 in Lebanon Missouri. I have 2 small ones at Bear Ridge Antiques In Crocker Mo. I will be consolidating those two, and moving some of their stock to this booth at the end of the month. Doing this will reduce my outgoing cash. The result will be a good amount of stock that has never been seen by the crowd that frequents Heartland. So I think it is a good move. But more importantly I had to change the look and stock of the Heartland booth. Originally I attempted to market a 1970's groovy kind of vibe. It is all over the home dec magazines and there is a great deal of it to be found in the thrift stores around here. I worked very hard on it and the idea completely bombed. Nobody would buy my cute mushroom cookie jars and my orange and green knit afghans. So the only thing to do was change. I sold off all my stock at 75% off and took the money to buy shabby chic whites and romantic accessories. So here is a before and after comparison of the two styles in the same booth.

The real lesson here is to know my market. Here in this area, primitives sell well and so does pretty glass and anything to do with fishing or hunting. Shabby Chic is just starting to catch on in the antique malls here when it has been in urban areas for about 8 years now. My new booth is one of two of it's kind in my mall. This means there is not a great deal of competition. There was nothing like the previous 1970's look, but it was too different to be accepted.

Here I am in process, I decided to paint the walls to look like old parchment. They kind of look dirty, but the affect provided a neutral backdrop for merchandise. My 12 year old son Josh helped me paint. It was fun working with him.

This is the finished look with all of the goodies in it. Well, most of the goodies. I have an antique Victorian parlor set that I have to get in the booth in time for tax refunds.

The last picture didn't get in the overhead ladder. I really wanted one but had no idea where I was going to find one or how I would get it to the booth. I don't have a truck. Well, on painting day I noticed one for sale by one of the other vendors in the mall. It was only $25.00! God gave me the ladder I needed at a price that was super. Go God! I can hang chandeliers and candle holders. Or whatever. I also wanted a dress form to display jewelry and vintage clothing. Then the other day I found this great old (read, hard to find) dress form in another vendors booth. Oh happy day! These may seem like small events to you but to me they are examples of God's love and concern for every part of my life. They are love notes to my heart.

These items are  known as "smalls". In the antique business they are the bread and butter of daily sales and they add up a lot at the end of the month paycheck. Heartland sells mostly items that are under $20.00 because of it's location on the interstate. Travelers looking to pick up a small gift or something special stop in for a break from the road. They buy an ice cream or box of chocolates next door at the Russel Stovers outlet and then come in to cruise up and down the aisles a bit before they hit the road again. In the summer tour buses going to Branson stop here too. Big items won't fit on the bus but little things will.

Here are more smalls and I have already sold that black desk lamp this last weekend. I made the shade on the big lamp. I hope somebody falls in love with it and takes it home.

Typically items should be marked up three times the purchasing price. This is needed to cover the overhead of rent, credit card fees and 10% commission. But lately I have learned that the big ticket items such as furnishings may not even have double the markup. The idea is to understand what price will best appeal to the buyer and be able to move the high ticket items in a reasonable amount of time. Also, if sales are slow, a sale can get things moving again. So can moving around what is already in the booth. Pairing like objects together, matching colors, and resetting the booth are all important ways to keep repeat customers interested.

 

 I bought these shelves from other vendors in the mall. The screen will be used to sell wreaths I think it makes an airy divider between the booth and the aisle too.

Thanks for visiting my Heartland antique booth. Come on by if you are in the area. Again it's in Lebanon Missouri. There are loads of signs so you won't miss it and hours are from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, 7 days a week.