Wednesday, November 9, 2011

After Action Report

Its been so long!  Last week we spent every waking moment sewing and preparing for our upcoming gun show (not to mention tossing a little hospitality into the mix!).  The days were long, my house suffered, but a wonderful weekend spent meeting so many amazing people made our work well worth the effort.

Friday, the kids and I loaded up our truck and headed off to Spokane to set up for the show. We lugged armload after armload through three rooms to get to our table until we finally were ready to lay out the table.  We covered the table with a wool blanket laid over the top of a white cloth (I wanted to hide all of our extra boxes under the table), brought out a really neat wooden military box to contain pens, labels, business cards and money for change and commenced setting out our wares.

First, I stacked a number of Patrice's Simplicity Primer, complete with a neat little advertisement that stood on top of the books.  Next, I laid out The Prepared Family Guide to Uncommon Diseases, Naturally Cozy Pads and Naturally Concealed holsters (all the guys loved my table!).  Real gun show fodder followed.  A Rock Island 1911 .45ACP, Remington 870 (with a ported barrel and green furniture), a single shot .22 and a Remington A303 brought the gun enthusiasts around and a few stocks and other parts kept people looking.  We had a range finder, some pressure canners and a number of other odds and ends to fill out the table so that we did not embarrass ourselves.  All in all, we made a pretty good show.

After we arranged our table, we all took turns wandering through the show, seeing what everyone else had to offer.  We picked up a whole bunch of sutures, some IV start kits and a 2 gallon thermos (for tea in the woods, of course!).

We did sell a tremendous amount in a short amount of time.  Our guns were gone the first day.  Books sold well and I even sold some feminine pads (at a gun show - can you believe it?).  I handed out more business cards for the concealed holsters than I can count, and even sold one.  There were ladies trying the holsters on right over their clothes!  Amazingly, the guys loved the holsters and we even had a few fellows brings their wives back to the show so they could check them out.

Without a doubt, the very best part of our gun show weekend was meeting people.  I had the great honor to meet so many of the local folks who read this blog.  What a group of people you are!  Not only are you doing what you can to prepare for your physical needs, and the needs of those around you - I was struck with the fervency you all have for preparing spiritually for the days ahead.  I am proud to call you brothers and sisters.

Truth be told, I am not in a hurry to do another gun show.  It takes a lot of work to get ready and it is hard to be away from home for a solid three days.  That being said, I am thankful our family took the time to do this show and the Lord willing, I will see you again next year.

8 comments:

  1. It sounds like it was worth your time! I used to do craft shows and I know the work that goes into it.

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  2. Congratulations on a successful gun show and safe travel for you and your family!! I would have loved to see the looks on some of the men's faces, as they browsed your goods and came upon the feminine pads, PRICELESS I bet!!
    MaryB in GA

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  3. I love that holster! I hate wearing belts (most of my skirts aren't built for belts anyway) and the only other similar holster I've seen is the "flash-bang holster" that my husband bought me, but it doesn't seem very secure. I'm taking a concealed weapons permit class in the next couple months, so will most likely order one in the near future. Thanks for making them!

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  4. Jeanne;
    It is my wonderful friend, Lady Day, that makes the holsters. They are awesome and very secure! Glad to hear you are taking a class. A girl can never be too careful.
    Enola

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  5. So pleased to hear that you were blessed with many rewards for all your hard work and efforts, with good sales and lots of interest and hopefully leads to future sales of your products. Perhaps the greatest benefit of all is that you were able to spread your entrepreneurial enthusiasm while also meeting lots of new people!

    notutopia

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  6. A North Idaho MotherNovember 10, 2011 at 8:28 AM

    Glad your weekend was successful! I was hoping you'd be at the gun show in CDA in December! I wasnt able to make it to Spokane.

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  7. Thank you for the update. Glad you sold some things and met many LMIs.

    NoCal Gal

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  8. I love gun shows! My kids keep saying we should get a table. My husband has made some great concealed holsters out of Kydex and the kids think he should sell them. He is able to conceal a 1911 on his hip, so that's something. Only thing is, without buying dummies, he'd have to make it at the show on guns people aren't suppose to carry. Or we could sell some of our guns, but my hubby is pretty attached to all of them. Gun shows are where we spend money, usually... Anyway, you make me wanna go to a gun show.

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