2011 Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Shows:

nimetzrj

nimetzrj

Well-known member
I just received information from Karla Little about the 2011 Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Shows being held at Baltimore, MD. April 15-17 - Baltimore Convention Center

They offer reduced rates for Sapfm members to have a table at the show. The contact information is as follows.

Karla Little
Follow us on Twitter - finefurnishings
Be a fan on Facebook - www.finefurnishingsshows.com/fb

www.finefurnishingsshow.com
80 Main Rd, Suite 203 - Tiverton, RI 02878
401-816-0963

Listed also are two other shows that may also offer discount for Sapfm members to have a table but you would have to check them out if interested.

Milwaukee - Sept. 30-Oct. 2- Harley-Davidson Museum
Providence - Oct. 21-23 - Rhode Island Convention Center











 
Last fall I went to one of these shows for the first time, and I have to say I was disappointed.  A trip to RI coincided with the Providence show and I managed to get there at 5:20 p.m. on the last day of the show.  Since the show closed at 6:00, they let me in for $5 (half price).

The NBSS booth was the most interesting to me.  There were a handful of other talented woodworkers exhibiting, but most of the furniture at the show left me cold.  (Poor finishes, inattention to woodgrain patterns, clumsy design, etc.) Certainly nowhere near the quality that I have seen SAPFM members capable of producing. 

The whole show was smaller than I expected.  It fit in a room the size of a hotel's medium ballroom.  And I did not understand why there was a booth selling "fine cutlery" and another selling basement waterproofing.

Obviously, this is just my one observation so take these comments with a big grain of salt.  Maybe I expected too much, maybe I caught the show on an off year or maybe the shows in other cities are much different.  All I know is that I left the Providence show after less than 30 minutes thinking I had paid too much to get in.
 
We went last year, made a trip around the show.  I will say I was dissipointed too because I had heard it was SOOO much larger than the Baltimore show.  Talking to a few folks, turns out it was much smaller than past years.
 
Note - if you want to exhibit at these shows you have to be in business and have a seller's permit and pay sales tax to that state and therefore pay income tax on your sales.  A 10'x20' booth can range from $1500 - $1900 plus hotel and travel expenses.  SAPFM members get a 5% discount on booth fee.

The majority of the exhibitors are contemporary or modern.

Dennis Bork
Antiquity Period Designs, Ltd.
 
That's a pretty big chunk of change for a booth.  Is that typical, or at the higher end for a show?  Not having done any shows, or really been to any, I have no idea about these things.  Do they take a cut of your sales as well?
Rob
 
Rob,

This booth fee is typical/average for a retail show.  Some promotors change more.  No, they do not take a cut of the sales.  At some big convention centers, like the one in Chicago, the booth fee is much more.  And because the workers  are union, only they are allowed to carry your items in to the convention hall.

In 2005 I paid $1850 for a 10x20 booth (end caps cost more) for a Folk Art Show.  Attendance for the 3 days show was less than 600 people and we had no sales.  It can be a depressing way to make a living.

Dennis Bork
 
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