Booth Crush: December 2019

3 Ways to Get Holiday Traffic

We know most of you are busy preparing for Christmas. The last thing you need is another to-do list. So we are going to keep our list short and sweet. This blog post is for shop owners. But even if you are a dealer please feel free to share this with a shop owner. We wanted to share three easy ways to get some extra holiday traffic. Remember this is just traffic and the customers might not be spending at first. But fingers crossed they just might. If your store makes a good impression on them they will remember you and shop at a later date or even better they will tell their friends about you.

1. Toy Donation Center

There are different toy drives you can do or participate in this time of year. If you are not sure how to start one, just call your local fire and police departments. They can point you in the right direction. The U.S. Marine Corps offers Toys for Tots. You can sign up online to be a participating drop off center or click here. The deadline is Dec 16th. There are more details on their website. Yougivegoods is a website you can partner with as well. Just make sure to promote, promote, promote. If you have a reader board sign outside, make sure to state you are a toy dropoff center with the details. Make sure you put a poster in the window. You can create something using a poster board and don't forget to share on all your social media platforms.

2. Christmas Themed Photo Wall

The above photo is one I used in a blog post last year. Click here to read that blog post. Photo credit goes to Two Sister's Treasures

A lot of antique stores and boutiques have a designated area within the store just for Christmas photos. This is usually a cozy fireplace/ Christmas tree scene. If you are a larger store you probably already have enough inventory to stage your area. You could pull items from your various booths (with dealer's permission of course) to create a space.

Don't forget to take a pic of your photo wall and share it on all your social media accounts. You need to get the word out as quickly as possible so people can start coming in and getting photos. Also, you will want to create a sign with a special hashtag so customers know how to tag your store in their photos. Once they start sharing their photos of your beautiful wall or space their friends will see it and want to come in for photos too.

If you don't have a mantle you could also create a winter scene with a window. Hang up a curtain over a windowpane and maybe paint some snow on the window. I'm sure you have some talented dealers at your store maybe you could take a vote to come up with the perfect theme.

3. Letters to Santa

Last but not least Letters to Santa. This has been popular for years. Lots of stores (not just antique stores) are getting in on the action for this one. Children love to write letters to Santa. So why not provide a mailbox for them. This way Mom or Dad have to make a special trip to your store. You can also have some blank letters available for little Jonny and Suzy. I have created one for you to print out and have ready. While this is pretty late in the game for this year, you could always have these for next year.

Please e-mail us at BoothCrush@gmail.com if you would like us to e-mail you the Dear Santa letter. Since blogger will not allow us to post a full-resolution photo we will have to email it to you.

Next, you will need a mailbox for the letters. I bet you could create something on your own, but in the event, you want a more professional look here are some options I found at Lowes and Walmart.