Vince Frazier
Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 132
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Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:35 am Post subject: Oshkosh vending |
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Quote: | >>>SNIP From: Mark Swaney <swaneymj(at)mac.com>
Subject: Re: New safety tool - canopy breaker
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Vince, are you going to have a booth at AirVenture this year?
Mark <<<< SNIP
Mark (and others),
We had a love/hate experience last year at Airventure.
We loved being able to meet the customers in person, and did quite well for our first time out at a trade show. We were quite pleased actually.
Sadly, we hated:
1) the new fly market location.
2 ) the dirt. It was absolutely hell on merchandise
3) the cost paid to the EAA for a 20'x20' TINY spot. Ridiculous. I can't imagine how many of the vendors even pay their bill, let alone make money.
4) the EAA vendor space does not include a phone line in the cost. That required an extra $400 if you wanted to reliably process credit cards. Cell phones and internet were available... but not always! This was a huge problem. My hat is off to all our customers who worked with us on some of the issues related to this, which is a LONG story.
5) the new location apparently also seemed to have prompted the EAA to eliminate nearly all aviation only sellers from the fly market. Ugh. It was a great place to buy popcorn blouses and yard decorations though. It truly has become a flea market.
I love the EAA. Really. They have provided us with many years of great shows, etc. However, if I don't tell why we're not at Airventure this year many of our customers will make the wrong assumption about our business health. Happily, we're doing great in spite of a crappy economy. We simply can't afford the huge investment of time and effort to do a show that offers some benefits, but far more headaches.
Thanks for asking. It needs to be known why the fly market simply ain't what it used to be. FWIW, the other vendor spaces at Oshkosh are priced out of reach of all but the most ferocious competitors. They are simply out of reach to most small vendors. We simply didn't get into this business to be sharks. We're much happier being casually successful and not trying to beat our brains out while doing it!
Vince Frazier
Flyboy Accessories
3963 Caborn Road
Mount Vernon, IN 47620
812-464-1839
1-888-8FLYBOY
1-888-835-9269
www.flyboyaccessories.com
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_________________ Vince Frazier
3965 Caborn Road
Mount Vernon, IN 47620
812-464-1839 work
812-985-7309 home
F-1H Rocket, N540VF
http://vincesrocket.com/ |
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