Craft Shows in Michigan Economy

This post will be a little different from my normal posts about skin.

This weekend I did a two day craft show in Davison, MI selling a jewelry line which has always done well in the past. But this quarter has been a different story.

I left Saturday morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready for a wonderful weekend of selling. It wasn't suppose to snow till later in the day and then only about 1 inch so I knew the drive would be easy. It wasn't snowing when I left the house, but as I turned out of the driveway the first snow flakes came down. Looked at my watch - no it was only 6:50 a.m. so that couldn't be snow. Well the snow was coming from the west, and oh yes I was heading west north or do you say northwest? Directions are not my forte so that's why I have a trusty GPS system that tells me where to go. Without it I am totally lost.

So my easy drive was more of a nightmare with lots of pretty snow and no salt trucks in sight. Took longer than anticipated but still smiling. Trust me unloading merchandise for a craft show in snow is not one of my favorite things. The perfect hairdo is now wet and soon to be fuzz but still keeping a positive attitude that this will be a great day, different than the past 2 months because we are close to Christmas now.

It snowed ALL DAY non-stop so of course that kept crowds away. Or would they have come had it not been snowing? I've been watching a trend here especially this quarter, crowds are much smaller than in previous years. My wireless credit card machine has been gathering dust except for the occasional debit card. In previous years saw very little cash exchanged, but this year cash has made a big comeback. The one phrase I heard a lot this show was "I have to look thru the entire show to see what purchase (note not plural) I want to make. Only brought so much cash". And the purchases were for other people as gifts, not shopping for themselves.

When I walked the show all vendors/crafters had their merchandise on large discounts. That was the only way they could make sales. Now for many vendors/crafters this is their only means of income since they have been downsized from their jobs. So there were a lot of unhappy faces I came across, worried faces.

But I was smiling, why? Because jewelry is a side line for me. My main concern is skin care with a direct sales company that has been awesome. The products work, the doctors are well known, people want to keep their skin looking good (skincare does not decline during recessions), and the gift I can offer people of having a good business in this decline makes me feel good about the business opportunity I am offering them. The timing is good because companies like this thrive during recessions. I know that I am helping people and that makes me smile.

The company, Rodan and Fields Dermatologists. If you want more information check my website or contact me and I would be happy to talk with you. http://cevans.myrandf.com or email me at carolevans19@gmail.com.