Early in the month (Feb) I visited Las Vegas for the World gift and Home Dec Market…It was HUGE…OVER-WHELMING…AMAZING.
I am thinking about the future and I want to share my thoughts with you…because we are in this together…without you…I do not have a business. I guess…I am always thinking about the future…and I hate to admit it but I am a little bit worried about the quilting industry…it’s not going away…but…
Here is what’s happening…the shows are not what they once were…the sales are not as high as they used to be…we used to make and sells lots of big quilt kits…now we are not selling big kits but we are selling little smaller priced items …the average sale is less than half of what it used to be and the number of sales are down too…..pattern designers are closeing shop because they cannot make enough money to take care of all the expenses involved…the booth fees at trade shows and consumer shows are outrageous…so with these things in mind…what can we do? How are we going to SURVIVE…how can we be different? Before you delete this and move on…This is not a woe to me post…please read on…it gets exciting.
Subscription Boxes??? Yes! As you know we are working on WOOL BOX #2 at the moment….I am very pleased with the current subscriptions for starting out!! Did you remember to sign up for March…I am designing projects now…
Offer Machine Quilting services…with timely(not 6-12 months) waiting lists. Yes..I think this is definately a possibility…
I am thinking we need to be more than a quilt store…maybe a place to paint/make a sign, plant a succulent garden, hook a rug, make a wreath, make a pie, take a cooking class, or candy making class, knit a pair of socks, make a personalized piece of jewelry…calligraphy class, a place to see how to decorate our homes, with quilts too and things we make and so on…a place to CREATE, to hang out…so this is why I attended the Market in LV.
I found so much…and I wanted it ALL…ok…maybe not all of it but there was so neat stuff there….great wall art…
great reclaimed/vintage jewelry…
Cool Paper products….
a couple different soap companies….hand made soap is in…shower gel not so much…lol and made from wine? (grapeseed oil…close enough)
great Christmas stuff..
things to hand our quilted stocking on…
fall decor…
and everyday stuff…
The displays were beautiful…I could show you hundreds of photos I took..
I might have found a few personal things…these spheres are coming to Anchor Point…
and last…I LOVE these letter boards…I love quotes, words that touch your soul…click HERE to look at these on our website! The letter boards are on the way to the warehouse!!! Because of the multiple sizes and offerings Please be advised that there could be a possible 2-3 week delivery time if you all ordered the same size or something…You will see my letter boards on my social media posts!!!
I believe what we want out of life is experiences…this is what matters…memories of good times spent with friends or people who share the same passion to MAKE SOMETHING!…So I really want to create such that place with a shop, retreat and outdoor space to grow some of the food for the retreat house or a place where you can feed the Chickens or watch the Sheep in the field while we stitch… It’s a BIG dream, but for me it TIME to find out….I have a few more commitments for early 2019, then it’s time to start planning a NEW Primitive Gatherings…and hopefully it will all work out and we will ALL have such a place to visit…BTW. We are only 10 min from ATW International airport!!!
Let me know what is going on in your head after reading this…imput…suggestions?
Leave a Reply