Upcoming Craft Show and Marketing Workshops

The Harvest Craft Fair on Saturday, Oct. 18th at the Holy Ghost Academy in Tupper Lake attracts more people each year. Among the 30 exhibitors, all of which sell handmade works, are Jake and Robert Reiss of www.Aromasgalore.com who say they are very pleased with the show. They have attended since the first year in 2005. For applications or more information contact Suzanne Sherwood 518.359-3821 or Linda Perrigo 58.359-2585 (h) 518.359-3241 (w).

For those of you wishing to seriously reexamine your marketing strategies, consider signing up for the "Marketing for Profit" course to learn about business planning, e-commerce, financing and website development. Northern Adirondack Trading Cooperative has partnered with Cornell Cooperative Extension to provide the courses online so you can attend the class sitting at your own home computer.
The first session starts Oct. 25, out of Hogansburg, and is in partnership with the Mohawk Indian Tribe Economic Development. The second one, starting in early January 2009, is in partnership with the Essex County Cornell Cooperative Extension out of Westport. Each one last 16 to 20 weeks with evening classes held on Monday and Wednesday. I'll be speaking about regional branding at the January 5th class in Westport.
Contact Ruby Sprowls, Northern Adirondack Trading Cooperative, www.natconline.org for more info and to sign up.

Posted four new studio tours at http://www.adknccrafts.com/:
The Artist at Work Studio Tour sponsored by the Adirondack Artists Guild in Saranac Lake, The Plein Air Studio Tour sponsored by The Arts Council of the Northern Adirondacks and the Westport Chamber of Commerce, The Spring Studio Tour sponsored by the Adirondack Artisans Guild of Lowville and the Farm Tours sponsored by Adirondack Harvest, are now posted at http://www.adknccrafts.com/studiotours.php. 20 annual and monthly studio tours in the region are listed.

Sales per Location:
In late 2004, sales per square feet for craft retailers with an average of $111,190 in sales was $136 per foot. Advertising budget averaged $4,695 at 4% of their budget. The average in inventory was $39,583. The sales to stock average was 2.81. Profit as a percent of sales was 17%. How do these figures compare with yours?
The stats are from 182 craft retailers (NICHE subscribers) mostly from the Northeast and the Mid Atlantic States. (thanks, Bernard, for turning me on to this one and thanks to the American Craft Council for posting it). I still think that for retailers and artisans, the Canadian Gift and Tableware Association annual survey is one of the most informative ones especially to monitor product line trends from year to year.
FMI: http://www.americancraft.com/BMAC/buyer/PDFs/PF06/CraftRetailerSurvey.pdf
and http://www.adknccrafts.com/resourcesstatistics.php