Shop display

It's my birthday today! I had a very nice, albeit very quiet, day at work, and then I came home to find lots of parcels waiting for me. Not all birthday presents, but it kind of added to general, present-opening, me-me-me atmosphere. I had a beautiful 1940s dress and two 1960s train cases that I bought on Ebay. Then some books - a history of Newgate Prison and a biography of Adam Worth, the bloke who Conan Doyle's Moriarty was apparently based on - and DVDs - The Big Sleep and Breakfast at Tiffany's. And a wonderful little bear-sized wheelchair from my Aunt in America - an exact replica, with working wheels, working brakes and little flap-down foot pedals. And crutches and a plaster cast!

I am still a little tentative about the idea, but I am planning a wheelchair-bound bear - the point being, I guess, that it represents what some people live with all the time. I was rather dubious about it, thinking that it might be slightly upsetting, but having seen the wheelchair, I think it may be okay.

Anyway, whilst I was at work, I took some photos of the unit. It is looking rather dull and uninspired at the moment, sadly - the bears I sold over Christmas are much missed. Taking photos does help me work out what's going wrong.

This actually looks quite colourful, but it is perhaps a little misleading - centring everything under that wonderful sign. The little bears on the left of the photo are made by Valerie Noy, the lady who sub-lets space in my unit. They could perhaps do with being a bit higher - in fact, the displays on both sides of the central cabinet could probably be a bit higher.

These are the 'Christmas' baubles I made (now just to be known as 'baubles'), a lovely shawl knitted by my Aunt, and my mother's acrylic cards. I guess, as a display, it's colourful enough - just a bit boring. The shawl needs to be displayed spread out really. I'm just scared that if I hang it up - from hooks - and someone pulls on it, it may get damaged. The baubles could do with being hung up too, and the cards are not very visible stacked up in a stand like that.

Bags and a hat made by my mother. Only one of the two windows has shelves, and one shelf is higher than anyone can reach. This lower shelf actually looks better in the photo than it does in reality. When you stand in the unit and look at it, it sort of gets lost among everything else. I should do more with the windows; they are really quite striking. Framing them in something would be nice; perhaps putting something really tall on the top shelf; coordinating the colours of the two shelves. It would also be nice to have something facing outwards (since I'm one of the few unit holders with shop windows) - perhaps some silhouette-like thing, since it still gets dark early.

Henri and Archimedes, an apron and some teddy bear cards. I thought it was a good idea to place a blue Henri against a blue apron, but actually, he just sort of disappears.

Again, it seemed like a good idea at that time. That's Chekov - in a bag, hanging from a hook which I usually hang gift bags from. It looks quite sad actually, particularly against those incredibly ugly bare pipes. I am not sure what to do with Chekov. He is not a particular favourite, and although I think he looks good in the bag, he actually just looks like I'm trying to hide him when I display him that way in the unit! I think either I need to find a better way of displaying him, or he should be withdrawn.

Um... from the left, Keiran, Victor, Geraldine and Lily. This, I think, works reasonably well. It's a nice display of yellow (and a rather yellow photo as well, unfortunately), and it puts Geraldine on a high shelf, away from small children trying to look under her wedding dress!

Miguel and Wanda, with little Macintosh. I thought this worked well - the very spareness of it drew the eye. I wasn't so keen when I was looking at it today though. I am beginning to think that maybe the best way to sell is to stuff your shop to the rafters.

Manufactured mini bears, manufactured rabbit, Otto, Drake, Ethan and Rowan. This doesn't work. I do like the stand of manufactured bears on the left - facing towards the stairs that come up from the ground floor. This shelf is quite dark though, and both Otto and Ethan are quite dark in colour, and sort of fade into the background. Maybe, darker-coloured bears should sit on the white shelves on the other side of the unit. On the lower shelves on the left-hand side, it ought to be primarily white bears. Or maybe I could just improve the lighting.

This is one part of my bears-safe-for-children section. It looks alright, if a tadge messy and disordered. Thinking about the colour thing though, maybe these things would be better on the white shelves on the other side of the unit.

An apron(?) I had real trouble displaying these - they're difficult to hang. I must see if I can find some of those trouser-hangers with the clips. The knotted ties are not particularly attractive.

Albert, Dave (disappearing above the picture), Pascal, Izzy and a little manufactured white bear. This is on the other side of the unit - against the white shelves. The table looks too messy. Again, I thought the white tray holding the organza bags worked quite well, but it actually looks a bit scruffy. Pascal needs to be higher up, so you can look into his eyes; Izzy could do with a plainer background; and the little manufactured bear looks a bit lonely out there on his own (not to mention white on white).

Manufactured bear, Choo, Deb Canham bear, unjointed fleece elephant, Hugo, and another Deb Canham bear. Well - they are colourful bears against a white background. I don't think the bag fits very well there however, and I have lost the triangular effect - what with Choo and the elephant being the same size.

Dave and a 'block' polar bear. This isn't bad: the colour-combinations are nice - it's just that the little polar bear disappears against the white shelf. He needs to go over onto the wood-coloured shelves on the other side.

One of my welly-boot bears - and this I think, works well too.

Unjointed rabbit and manufactured Miffy keyrings. I'm not so sure about this one, but I don't know how to improve on it. Part of the problem is that that little shelf is all on its own, with nothing but white wall below it. I guess what would be really nice is to have something hanging from the shelf.

And finally, my very popular IKEA armchair, with a manufactured polar bear (with hand-knitted hat and bolero) dozing on it. I need to wash the covers. And I need to do something to make more use of the space without depriving my customers of a place to nap when they feel so inclined.

Anyway, there ends my whistestop tour of the teddy bear unit. Hopefully, I can get things sorted in time for Valentine's Day. In the meantime, I am looking set to miss my two-bears-a-week target yet again! Back to the bear-making!

New website now up and running

I have spent so much time worrying about the lingerie website recently, I have been neglecting the bears and the unit at the Craft Centre. I have made a few changes to the unit: last time I was in, I decided to move the central island unit, and to heft it up on top of the counter at the back. It actually looks really good there - sort of cabinet-like - and the shelves in it, which were wasted when it stood on the floor, are now at the perfect height.

It does leave a big empty space in the middle of the floor, but the advantage of this is that it's easier for customers to get in - they don't have to squeeze past the island unit. I'm not keen to put anything else in to replace the island unit, but I might try to build up the shelves at the side a bit - maybe bears-on-chairs on the floor - just to try to diminish the wide expanse of bare floor boards in the middle. Maybe a little fluffy pink rug?

I also had another go at the signage. I decided that my previous sandwich board is really a failure - much as I'm loathe to admit it; it is just too flimsy. Also, the patterned fabric someone makes it look less like a sandwich board - as does the tall, thin shape.

I made another one today - just a small one, in a more regular shape, and just plain white. It is made out of foam board and the edges are taped for neatness. It is also taped together at the top - for the hinge - and then I punched holes near the edges of each piece, and threaded ribbon through them to hold the 'feet' together.

I have used it to advertise the gift tags that I made here. The tags share a rack with the bag hangers I buy in, and I'm not sure anyone's really noticed them yet, so I had to do something to draw people's attention to them.

I have also made a sign to hang from the bottom shelf, stating that the bought-in toys are suitable for children. I forgot to photograph it though.

In the meantime, I have managed to get the new DGBVintage website up and running - finally. All that is left to do is the 'About' page. The new website, for the first time, has a link to this blog. I need to email Easyspace and ask them to put a link on the BigFeetBears website as well.

I have also added some more to the Poppy LaByrnham Collection - the incredibly beautiful, incredibly expensive items that I buy at UK auctions. There is a gorgeous peach satin bed jacket, apparently hand-made, with ruching detail around the cuffs and collar and over the bodice; a bias-cut pink silk nightdress, with a lace bodice; and the most amazing peach net nightdress (see last pic). It is stretchy and fitted, and the bodice is overlain with a second layer of net with sort of woven stripes to it, which is gathered and fitted over the bodice. 1930s? Perhaps 1940s?

I have also added another series of vintage slips - this time in a bust size 36. Do take a look - I will be adding more soon.

Sandwich board

I have a new bear!

He's called Rowan, and he's a dear little thing. He's one of those which didn't go how I planned, but actually turned out much better than I expected. He was supposed to be a 'recumbent bear' - a pattern which allows him to both lie down and sit up - looking comfortable in both positions. I shortened the pattern for one of the recumbent bears I had made in the past, and redesigned the arms and legs to look altogether more petite and stumpy.

The miscalculation came in the angle of the neck. Somehow the shortening of the body means that the original neck angle doesn't allow him to lie down properly. He does 'slump' quite nicely though - in true, battered old bear-fashion - although he is considerably smarter than a battered old bear.

I am so taken with the way he has turned out though, that I'm considering making a limited edition out of him. Something has got to be done about that neck though, first.

I have also made progress (albeit very slight progress) with the signeage I was talking about in an earlier post. I have made a sandwich board. The two pieces are covered in black cotton - printed with flowers and lanterns - and joined together with strips of ribbon at the top and the sides. It's not very stable though, and I was wondering whether I would have done better to sew right along the top edge.

I sat down to make the signs and I suddenly realised that I hadn't a clue what to use them for - what the signs were actually going to say(!) So ideas for that were the first thing on the agenda. As you may be able to see in the photo above, I have used the first one to advertise Rowan. The sign says, "Meet the latest member of the clan... Rowan. Born on 20th April 2010; 12 inches; 2 lb 1oz". My attempts to advertise my bears are giving me a very twee turn of thought! I know many bear collectors have a lot of sentimental investment in their bears though: requests for birth certificates and 'certificates of adoption' seem to be quite common, so my sign was supposed to reflect that.

I thought I might use another sandwich board to advertise my posh gift tags (see previous post) - since they are currently on display with the manufactured bag hangers that I sell, and don't seem to be receiving much attention.

It would also be an idea also to have a sign for the manufactured toys that are on display - pointing out that they are suitable for children - since I do have a sign saying that the hand-made bears are not suitable. I thought it would be nice to have a sandwich board standing on the floor, next to the toy shelf, but if they're not very sturdy I may have to revise that plan.

Also, I rent shelf space to another bear-maker, and will shortly be displaying the work of another lady, so signs for those would also be a good idea.

Definitely room for improvement!

I took some more pictures of my unit at the art & craft centre recently. I have rearranged things again, but I really must find a more convincing way of changing the display.

Anyway, I have been trying to follow the advice of the internet experts:

Here are the bears arranged in a triangular shape, with the tallest in the centre. I do like the look, but the pillar in the centre of this picture (with the pink stripes) has no shelves or anything on it, so above the yellow bear's head, there is a lot of empty space, and it looks quite blank. Really, I could do with either putting up a free-standing shelving unit against the pillar (although it would be a shame to cover the stripes), or having a taller stand for the yellow bear.

Difficult to see, but this is my attempt at arranging things vertically by colour - pink! It really needs more light, particularly to the top two shelves. I've always had difficulty with lighting. There's a three-way spotlight in the centre of the unit, a single table lamp on the surface at the back, and - as you may be able to see - a light on the very bottom shelf. It still doesn't cover all the display space though.

Another problem is that there are gift bags on the bottom shelf. I guess I was considering that as wasted space - I doubt adult customers take much notice of it. However, it is the perfect place to puts kids' stuff, so I really ought to be putting bought-in, manufactured, child-safe stuff there.

In fact, that's true of all the lower shelves. However, not only do I have the space in the picture above - which runs the entire depth of the unit, but also the space on the lower shelves at the other side (see pic below), and the shelves of the central, island unit (see fourth pic). Altogether, those areas constitute about one third of the total display space, and the amount of 'toys' I sell constitute a much smaller proportion of my total stock than one third.

I guess I don't have to put children's items on the lower shelves. However, not only does doing so put the right stock at the eye level of the right customer, but it also means that the hand-made stuff - which is probably less hardy and more expensive - is put higher, out of reach of children, and so is less likely to be pulled about and handled.

Maybe I should be thinking about buying in more manufactured toys.

This was meant to be another attempt at displaying vertically by colour. Unfortunately, I'm not sure it really works to put lots of dark brown items together - it just looks dark.

Also, I have just realised, the shelving in the photo above is the first thing you see of my unit, as you walk from the stairs that come up from the ground floor, towards the front of the building. So the first thing my customers see is quite a dark, dingy, shelving unit. It would be better to have brighter colours there.

Another thing I would like to do is to put a big sign on the end of that shelving unit, with the lettering big enough that you can see it from the stairs (the stairs are right at the back of the building; my unit is right at the front) - just something really simple, to draw people towards the unit.

The sign would mean that you could see less of the stuff on the shelves. I think the trade-off would probably be worth it though.

This is the central island unit, which is right at the front, and which tends to be the first thing that people look at when they come buy the unit - hence the most popular seller (chiffon bags) being displayed there.

As I said, I think I ought to remove the gift bags from the lower shelves - I'm not sure they're going to be the most attractive thing to passing toddlers.

Another thing you'll read if you scour the Internet for advice on creating great retail displays, is that you should try to make full use of any unusual opportunities that your particular space has to offer. Before I moved into my current unit, I used to be on the second floor of the art & craft centre - in a little unit under the eaves. It was really sweet and cosy - like a little room in itslef, with a glass frontage looking onto the main walkway, and a balcony which looked over the first floor.

Fewer people go up to the second floor however, and also - much as I loved it - I really struggled to make the eaves work for me. The lady in the unit nextdoor (who also had eaves to contend with) had blocked them off. Her unit looked much smaller as a result, but she hadn't lost any usuable space by it, and in fact had gained some by putting an extra wall in. I was reluctant to do that - a) because I didn't want the unit to look smaller, and b) because I thought the eaves gave the unit a lot of character. I failed dismally in displaying stuff there though.

Anyway, in my current unit, I have three cupboards under the surface at the back.

So I have a bear hanging from the cupboard handle (not sure that was worth waiting for). Really though, as with the gift bags, its the wrong height to display something which is not suitable for children.

Finally, the picture above is of the window display. I have two lovely tall church windows in my unit - although only one has shelving in front of it. Sadly, I can hardly say I've made the best possible use of the space. It looks like a collection of items which I couldn't find room for elsewhere. And two of the items (the sheep and the cow) are bought-in toys. They are completely out of reach of any child - and probably a lot of adults as well, so they really ought to be on the lower shelves.

I think one of the things the window is lacking is something to frame it. It could do with a plant growing up one side of it (preferably a hand-made plant, with big, colourful felt flowers) - and obviously, some better attempt at arrangement. It would be a good place to put items which are slightly more fragile, which I'm not keen on people playing around with (e.g. self-standing bears, antique bears).

Anyway, here I come to the end of a crushing critique of my own display attempts (yeah, thanks for that); the next time I show photos of the unit, there will be big improvements!

Craft unit ideas

I've just got back from the Art & Craft Centre - it was my day working on the desk. It is simultaneously nice and frustrating working there. On the one hand, it's great to sell stuff - even for other people - and it always inspires me to think about better ways of selling, and better things to sell. The frustrating part is coming up with 'brilliant ideas', and then being stuck there without any materials to hand with which to try out those ideas.

By the time I get home, not only am I completely exhausted by a day of unaccustomed social interaction, bu there are so many ideas flying about that I can't settle to do one thing. Usually, of course, I end up doing nothing.

Anyway, I guess recording said ideas would be a good place to start.

Here are some pictures of the unit I took a few weeks ago. I have changed things around since then, but my changes tend to involve just rearranging stuff, rather than doing anything radically new.

Apologies for the quality of the photos (I know you can't see a whole lot - but you can click on the photos for a better view).

Anyway, I was thinking today about what I could do with the display to improve sales (all suggestions welcome, naturally). When I first started out, and wasn't making enough to cover the rent, I used to say that that was okay - the unit was useful as a gallery space, even if I wasn't selling. It struck me though that in some ways, my unit still resembles gallery space more than it does retail space.

This, to my mind, is because the display isn't very interactive. The few signs that I do have (one in small print, explaining the process of making the bears, and one saying that they are not suitable for children) could be signs in a gallery or museum. They do little to promote selling. Also, the prices are on tiny labels and/or concealed. I guess when I set it up, I was a bit prudish about it - thinking that it would be a bit vulgar to have a big sign saying 'buy me!' with the price in large font.

I was thinking though that maybe that is exactly what I need - big, colourful (preferably hand-made) signs, advertising particular ranges of products, with prices in large print.

I do have a few 'price cards' - for the organza bags, for example (just visible on the far right of the first photo) - but even these are just boring fonts on plain white laminated card. I must be able to do better than that.

I have been looking at pictures of other people's craft fair displays on the internet. A lot of people do use plain white card - I guess clarity and readability is key - but there are some much more interesting ideas too. However, I can only think of one at the moment, and it isn't particularly earth-shattering. The lady was selling small items, which she displayed in little baskets, and the signs for each set of items was pegged onto the back of the basket, with a really colourful, retro-looking clothes peg! It looked better than it sounds - honest.

Anyway, I will leave you with a Youtube music clip (if I can get it to work). I heard this song for the first time on the radio today, whilst I was sitting at the desk at the Centre. There were no customers around, so I was bopping away to it. The only thing that prevented me from joining in with the chorus was the fact that my colleague was standing a couple of feet away, hanging pictures - out of sight, but not out of earshot.

Tis T-Rex - 'We Love to Boogie'.