Hi there!

Today is the first day of the Signatures Gift show 2011 at the Ottawa Convention Centre. I am all set to go.. well almost..

It never fails that as much as I think things are tight and ready for presentation, I always manage to find a little something that needs tweaking to enhance the booth layout in some way. Last night, after I returned home from setting up, I was not quite satisfied that my new leggings were merchandised in a basket..It will just cause people to pull them out, one at a time, to see all the colours.. But how to hang them up in a tidy manner at such a late hour in the game?

Despite all my efforts to set up my booth in my living room and to sort out my merchandising design, this issues simply did not come to mind.

I found myself fumbling through the studio looking for some clips that I could use to hang the leggings from, and found some vintage wooden clothes pegs. I attached some wire that I shaped into hooks, and voila, instant hanging devices.. Where to hang them from?  My chrome floor stand for hand bags. Perfect.

Next issue – photographs. Since my fingerless gloves will remain merchandised in baskets, I thought it best to at least showcase them in a photo. This I hope will create an obvious visual on what these colourful woollen bundles are.

And finally, I have a basket of kooky and colourful woollen creations that are not so self explanatory. I am hanging another photo for my “Jester” dog collars.

It is all coming together after months and months of mad sewing and production in my studio. Thank goodness I had the help of Annamarie who did her magic to pull together the majority of my recycled sweater products, including some pretty swanky woollen shawls that are so soft and delicious to wrap around your neck in these cold months of ours.  I have also single handedly produced over twenty new shoulder bags and some fifteen large totes in recycled wool blankets and felt. I am super excited about these latest bag designs.

And so it goes, another gift show coming on, another milestone achieved. I worked so hard these last few months to prepare for this day that I find myself wondering if the effort is worth the benefits yet to be reaped.  Is the gift show circuit the best route for me to travel while growing my company?   It is one of the least expensive ways for a small company such as mine to have direct interaction with consumers which makes it such an ideal sales opportunity. But for me, it is absolutely impossible to find time to present new product to my much valued retail clients while being so intensely focused on the shows.  I ask myself if I want to sell to the retail world, how on earth can I extract myself from the production side of my business? My marketing efforts these last few months have also been painfully minimal which is simply a cause for serious concern in my view.  If my potential clientele does not know what I am doing or where to find Just B product, is there any serious point in sewing away all these hours in my little hideaway studio? It doesn’t quite add up to a good practice..

After the holidays, I plan to spend some much needed time reevaluating my production approach. It might include expanding my production space here in my home, outsourcing some international production and perhaps hiring Annamarie to produce my entire show collection for Spring.

These are some pretty big questions to be answered and it all has my brain working overtime.

Meanwhile, I am off to the Signatures show strutting my new recylced sweater leggings and looking forward to seeing my regular customers or meeting some new ones. I do get seriously energized by these shows. There is nothing better for my ego and to encourage me to keep doing what I am doing than in seeing real people in real time genuinely excited about Just B designs. Could these shows be a form of therapy? a drug? hmmmm…

Be sure to stop by my booth (216) if you are in Ottawa this evening and until 20 November. I would love to receive you and get your feedback on my latest collection.

Happy sewing my friends! And an extra special, heart-felt thank-you to my darling friend Joanne for helping me set up yesterday!

Anne

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