DIY Booth Space

DIY Booth Space

(My first experience )

Have you thought of renting a booth in a retail space? I finally took the plunge and branched out to a small space in an artist market in downtown Olympia.  It’s called Gallery Boom, located on the corner of Legion and Adams. After many summer afternoons pondering if I wanted to take my online business to the next level and sell my handmade knitwear offline I took the leap. Surprisingly there are many local business that offer spaces to rent within their shops. Keeping in mind the Knit One Too brand and values, I stumbled upon Gallery Boom, I found that it was a great place for me to try out one-of-a-kind pieces in the market place and take the next step to expanding my business. If you ever get a chance to check out Gallery Boom, you’ll now find Knit One Too’s new unique pieces in a variety of colors that I do not list on my webpage.

This is my journey in expanding beyond the web and branching out in new ways to display my knitwear and expand Knit One Too.

What I thought about before starting my display ~…There’s a lot more to consider than just placing your products in a booth.

Keep your style cohesive.

Find your style and stick with it. Don’t try and please everyone by having something for everyone. This is a key rule for most businesses, find your target market and stick to it. When placing knitted products in this new space, I worked hard to offer differing products that appeal to the same customer, while also being consistent with the Knit One Too warm and cozy brand. I say brand, because that is exactly what you are creating. Your style represents your business, which is ultimately your brand. This can be hard to stick to when you see something you may really like, but doesn’t fit the style of your brand. This is even more difficult to deal with when that something is selling like hot cakes for other vendors. 

Visual balance.

There are many different types of booths and spaces out there to rent. Keeping in mind your product and the brand you want to portray will help narrow down the long list of options out there. For my warm and cozy natural fiber knitwear the board display made from old pallets that was offered by Gallery Boom fit exactly what I was looking for. This rustic wood backdrop the old pallets provided complimented the Knit One Too Brand well. Not to mention this space also came with two shelves on the bottom, providing me with just enough space to stock a few new products yet to be featured online, while also offering me wall space to promote my online presence.

When first setting up my space I started with my logo sign ~ which was my largest piece and then worked around that focal point, to grasp peoples attention. To avoid spending a lot of time fussing with my display at the gallery, I took paper and made a template of the space I would be renting. This provided me with the ability to play around with all of the different sized photos and shelves I had available to use in the comfort of my own home. I am a tad embarrassed to admit it, but this process actually took me about 2 days, and almost a whole roll of tape as I moved pieces around the board. Who knew there would be so many options!

For the photos on the display, I had printed color pictures from my listing on the Knit One Too webpage. I have found that I sell more products when people can see someone putting them to good use!

The shelves and frames were a great find at my local Goodwill. I tried to keep the color and wood tones of the frames similar, keeping in mind the natural style my brand promotes. As for hat display, I made this piece for hats several years ago. It was fairly easy, the base is a circular piece of wood with a dowel attached and the top is a ball of Styrofoam from the craft store. I then glued yarn around the Styrofoam ball so that it matches the cream paint of the wood.

If you are going to rent a space, be mindful of what it takes to recoup your investment. Know that making a profit will depend on your commitment to your space. If you will be making things for your space, be prepared for the time and effort it will take to keep it stocked, especially during the holiday season!

The staff at Gallery Boom are great at filling in the empty spaces and tidying up for me when something sells. It’s so nice to have such a friendly, helpful staff working there, be sure to be mindful of this when you are looking for a space to rent. Having a friendly staff not only helps you manager your space, but they are also representing your brand while you are not there. Location is another important thing to consider when looking for a space. I visit my booth a couple of times a week, stocking new items and making sure my space is decent. It will be important for you to have a booth that isn’t too far away for that reason!

Creating an offline presence in my community has been a great step in expanding the Knit One Too brand. Seeing people walk around town in their cozy hand made knitwear warms my heart.