Booth Crush: March 2017

Sources For Inspiration and Design Trends

3:17 PM
0 Comments

I'm a vintage dealer that sells larger pieces of furniture as well as smalls. I love finding Grandma's furniture and breathing new life into it. When I see a gorgeous piece of old furniture at a good price, it's hard to pass up. I know you other furniture dealers feel me. Most of the time, there is someone there to load, but I don't always have help once I get it home. I know I'm not alone in my struggle.

Here is a classic example of a great piece of furniture. It was high end, vintage for a steal. Clean lines and perfect for a makeover. But so HEAVY! I was so excited to find it, I didn't bother checking the weight. The store loaded it for me, and when I got it home was I in for a surprise. I had to get two neighbors to help unload it. This one just about killed me folks. Lesson learned that day...check the weight!

I have lugged and tugged at heavy pieces for years and it is finally catching up with me. Yes, Granny here ...has a bad back now. For the last few weeks, I have been suffering with lower back pain. As much as I love selling bigger pieces, I may have to give them up for a while and stick with smaller pieces like chairs and side tables and things I can manage on my own.

A couple of days ago, I was chatting with another dealer. She was telling me she had to put her old truck, Bessie out to pasture. She now has a car which has put major restrictions on what she can haul. She was feeling let down and discouraged. This got me to thinking about how may other dealers that may him similar situations. Whether it is health related, lack of help and or transportation, just know you have options. You can still have a great looking booth with less furniture and smaller items.

As I always do...I hopped on the internet to find some inspiration. In my research, I found a blog article from Denise at Vintage Show Off. She wrote a similar blog post on this subject and I was thrilled to see she had even mentioned Booth Crush in her post. I sure miss her blog. I know most of you dealers have heard of her, but for you new faces the blog is no longer active, but still visible and so worth checking out. To read that blog post click here.

As Denise mentioned in her post, if you don't have help try to enlist the help of a college student. They are always looking to earn a few bucks. So it's a win win. I have always pestered my next door neighbor. He won't let me pay him, but I occasionally can bribe him cakes and cookies and that seems to work.

If you have help, but no transportation check around to see if a family member, friend or neighbor has access to a truck. If you have exhausted all your efforts, U-Haul Rentals may be an option. They have regular sized trucks, cargo vans, and the larger moving trucks that start at 10 feet and go to the larger 26 feet trucks.

I have a dealer friend that recently bought a good, used little truck. She paid around $3000. She loves it. She said it is great on gas, and although not pretty to look at, it gets the job done and that's all that matters. So you might want to consider something like this. It may not be your everyday vehicle, but to have a truck at your disposal to move things when you need it is worth it, especially for those dealers that do this full time.

Whatever your situation is just remember you have options. The old saying...

doesn't always apply!

While I was browsing the internet I found some adorable spaces that sell small to medium size furniture. This was a picture I shared on our Facebook page in 2014. This gorgeous, well displayed booth doesn't have anything in it that would require more than one person to move it.