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5 Tips for your Antique Booth this Summer
This blog post is for all of you antique store booth owners out there (or even those of you who may be flirting with the idea of having an antique booth). I’m bringing you 5 tips for your antique booth this summer. These have personally helped me, so I’m hoping they will be beneficial to you, too! Brighten those colors! Add some summer life to your booth. I always think in terms of seasons when working my antique booth. Right now, especially, those bright greens, whites and blues should be in full force in your booth. I’ve even seen people use a color theme of red, white and blue all summer long. Honestly, it doesn’t matter…
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Tips for Your Antique Booth Reopening
The store our vintage booth is in was closed for weeks. Leading up to the store closing, customers were in panic mode and holding tight to their wallets (they weren’t spending money.) When customers don’t spend money, small businesses don’t make sales. It was a tough time because as a business, we still had expenses yet were making no sales. Sad day. Scary day. Our governor reopened retail stores and the antique store reopened May 1st. Therefore, my vintage booth opened! It was exciting to reopen yet it was stressful because we immediately needed to make a profit. It also felt weird to jump back in after taking over a…
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Classic Cottage Co. is Expanding.. Yet Again
Yep, you read it! Tomorrow Feb. 1st we’re expanding!! I kept this expansion a little quiet because I’m mostly doing it as a business experiment. I want to test the waters of a new location inside of the antique mall that we’re currently in. I’m doing this to test two things – location and size. Our newest booth (Yes, we’ll be keeping our current spaces… fret not!) will be towards the front of the store but smaller than our current location. This excites ME!! I find myself EXTREMELY excited when Aaron and I do/try something new with our business. This motivates me. Yep, you better believe it – we’ve come…
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Highs & Lows – 2018
Farewell, 2018. Hello, 2019. It was a good year. Fast but good! Here’s a few moments that really stand out to me when thinking back on 2018. I turned 25 – High Wow, am I really an actual grown up? Yep. I turned 25 on January 25th 2018. I even wrote a post about it –25 Life Lessons for 25! Aaron & Kelbee made this day special for me. Classic Cottage Co. Expanded… AGAIN!! – High Yep, we had the opportunity to expand the space we we’re currently renting so we did so! This gave our customers a little extra room to shop while allowing us to stage more inventory.…
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Making Money with a Vintage Booth During the Holidays
I’ve been in the industry for a few years now and I can tell you the Holiday season can be a little slower for antique dealers/pickers. Sad to say, but I’ve heard many dealers say they have a hard time paying rent during the Holidays, much less making a profit for the work! I try to be very strategic when it comes to Classic Cottage Co. during the Holidays so that I not only make rent but bring home a paycheck! Here’s a few tips! Christmas Decor Stocked People are buying all things Christmas right now. Look at the big box stores – Target can barely keep it in stock. Wednesday…
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Be Careful What You Teach Your Children
If it hadn’t of been for my mother, I wouldn’t have this career. Seriously. I think about it often this time of year. Why? Because every October and November she would drag me out to every flea mall/ antique store in and around our area and make me hunt for every vintage Santa mug, pitcher or cookie jar I could find. On the regular – she would take me to yard sales and estate sales. At a young age, mom taught me how to hunt. Eventually, I developed an eye for things I liked and I would put them away in my hope chest. Mom drilled me to look for…
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My Vintage Booths in August
August flew by! Literally it’s hard for me to remember details of the month because it didn’t last very long. Okay, let’s see what details I can share! Student Rush I’ve mentioned before we live in a college town – War Eagle! I thought the student rush was over (My mistake). It was a Saturday morning and we had just finished picking. We were taking a load of furniture into the store and I was hit with an open college student floodgate! As Aaron was taking it off the truck, I was writing price tickets and handing them to parents. There were SO many college kids! Slow Days Then we…
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My Vintage Booths in July
Wow, I can’t believe we’re already in August. Kids are already going back to school and Summer feels like it’s slowing down. Despite customers being on vacation and buying school supplies, July was a good month for Classic Cottage Co. Let me give you a little recap on the whole month! Side Tables Sold Possibly because we live in a college town and students are gathering dorm items, side tables/nightstands didn’t last longer than a day after dropping them off. Woohoo!! I was glad to see them go! Chandelier Shock Total shocker. I found two BEAUTIFUL chandeliers (priced low enough) while picking this month. Woah! This never happens. Like seriously…
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Beautiful Antique Set
Does anyone else love gorgeous antiques with stunning detail? This. Girl. Does. I found the most beautiful dresser and chest set. I bought this set for my vintage Business Classic Cottage Co. It was one of the most challenging Classic Cottage projects yet but totally worth it. This set was gorgeous when we found it but needed a little TLC to make it usable again. Aaron spent hours fixing drawers and other little details on each piece. I bought this set in such excitement I didn’t even realize some of the drawers didn’t work properly. Yikes!! Thank goodness Aaron knows a little woodworking! Time for the big transformation. The white paint!!…
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Comparing Springs… Ups & Downs
I mentioned in a post published on New Years that my business struggled last Spring. Now that it’s the first of June, I think it’s safe to compare Spring of 2017 to Spring of 2018. I truly hope this post brings you encouragement. (Throughout this post you’ll see pictures from the early days) Last Spring I nearly gave up on my business. I built this business from $0.25 items at yard sales. Truthfully, it was a steady build. Then Spring of 2017 came and my sales STOPPED. (Classic’s Opening Day. Not the best quality pic, sorry) Oh no! Nothing was selling. Looking back, I had made some bad buys and lost…
