Goofy Weekend

We ran into our share of difficulties this weekend at our two shows. Both had challenges due to other candles. After having a successful show at the Baltimore VA center a few month ago, we returned to find them now selling the "y" candles in there own shop. They had them in the front on shelves, and priced below retail. They claim they do it to give the Veterans in the center what they want. That's fine with us, but don't ask us to wake up at 4 in the morning, drive two hours, and set up next door. We would have gladly just canceled the date had we known. The management company understood our quandary and wasn't upset when we packed up early.

The next day we woke up with the sun and left for a small festival here in the Dover area. As we pulled up, we noticed another Scent Sations distributor unloading their candles. Now you know we asked when we signed up if there were any other distributors signed up having had this problem before. They say they knew that there were going to be candles there, but didn't know what kind they were. This is obviously the fault of the Scent Sations distributor not following the company policy of how to properly register for a show. By rights we could have unloaded and asked them to leave. We didn't. We had not gone far or unloaded a thing (not to mention being plain worn out from the day before). We asked the coordinator for a check returning our registration fee and went back to bed.

The distributor that showed up had been doing this particular show for years, but that's no excuse for not following the distributors guidelines put forth by the company. It appears this is the only show they do because they still had some very old jars. We traded this one for a newer jar 'cause I'd never seen one before. We're just going to hold on to it.

Our First.....Outside

We have had our first event in an outside location. It required us to have a tent and our own power. It was a rain or shine event with no alternate location in case of foul weather. We found a tent we like at K-Mart (of all places). It's an instant-up style tent with a large awning and a large roof vent. Both great features to keep the weather and the heat off of us. It is a very nice model, and we had as many offers to buy it as anything else we had.

The inside dimensions are 10x10, so it sets up a lot like an indoor booth, but there isn't any "wiggle" room. This shot shows the sides with the plug-in walls and melts. Melts were also hung from the tent frame on the chip clips. The wall is running off a first try at a home-made portable power pack (lots of room for improvement). Generators were not allowed. The soaps are on this table, too. They sold well.

The candle shelves went along the opposite wall. Leaving the lids off of a few seemed futile. We didn't think we were going to change the scent of downtown Dover.

The booth space was accessible from both the street and the sidewalk, although most of the traffic came from the street. This picture shows the tent and walls from the back. It also shows the large vent which not only keeps the hot air flowing out, but will hopefully help it stay down in heavier winds. No stakes were allowed here. There are regular 45lb weight plates in the corners. We got some wind, but nothing heavy. We plan on using steaks whenever it's allowed.