Fill 'Er Up!

If you're just joining us today for Transformation Thursday, welcome! This is our weekly post-show update and sales report -- all about transforming our empty booth to a full one, plus getting our show on! Last week was all about getting things done, yessiree!

Joe and I were really pleased to arrive at Midland Saturday and find our booth virtually empty! That means sales were good this month, and we couldn't be happier. Part of our strategy for 2009 has been to get more inventory to Midland during the summer, which can be challenging when there's a show scheduled virtually every weekend. We've had to juggle things around a bit, so it's really rewarding to feel that things are working out.


However, the empty booth brings with it the "problem" of refilling it. Can we get it all in, arranged and priced in time to get to Burlington and be ready for tomorrow's show? The countdown begins at 10 a.m. Ready, set, go!

It doesn't look like it, but two hours have already gone by, and Joe's suggesting a break for lunch. We have everything pulled out that's going on to Burlington with the us, and the display pieces that we'll be putting in storage are on the elevator, ready to go upstairs. Joe's gone in search of his favorite ladder while I make some adjustments to our floor plan notes.

By 2 p.m., things are looking a little better. All the furniture is in place, and we're starting to unpack the smalls. Only two hours left, however, and we still have to price everything and do the walls, which I always dread. Hanging pictures in "business life" is just like hanging pictures at home: fraught with peril and argument! "Just a little to the left, honey. No, maybe more to the right!" (: Plus, the van has to be reloaded. Ugh.

Success! It's only a little after 4, and we're almost done. Let's hope we're on our way to empty again. Kentucky, here we come (after I do a little Midland shopping, of course!).

By sunrise at Burlington on Sunday, we were unpacking smalls, and awaiting Heather's arrival. The show turned out to be a scorcher -- 84 predicted degrees turned into 96, with humidity that made it feel like 106. Despite that, we sold all our big furniture. Go figure -- usually hot temperatures translate into sluggish furniture sales. You just never know, I guess.

Our customers started to wilt in the heat around lunchtime, leaving us at 75 percent of our sales goal for the show. But we were pleased with the weekend overall. We always enjoy our time at Midland; the staff is so kind to us. A special thank you to Michael for his help with getting the world's heaviest, yet most beautiful, machine off the trailer, and to fellow dealers Heather and Chris for their kind words about our space and our blog. We appreciated it! And to our BFF Heather for joining us at Burlington with lots of new jewelry -- your creativity always amazes me! Love the new designs. xo