Discuss the process of getting your t-shirt line into brick and mortar stores and selling offline. Topics include industry tradeshows, events, line sheets, sales reps and other retailing tips and advice.
Hello everyone,
We are in the middle of our first experience at a trade show. It is the retail premiere for our line. We choose the FAME show in NY, because it was local and would save us travel expenses.
Two days down and one to go. We have opened a bunch of accounts and are pleased for the most part with how things are going. (our goal is just to break even at this show).
We have gotten much good advice from our booth neighbors. The people have been wonderful. everyone is willing to talk about their experience. it's really been a great experience.
Hoping that we get some phone calls after the show as well.
just wanted to share our first experience. would love to hear other people's takes on first shows.
Good to know, thanks for the post. Had not heard of this trade show, but now may plan on attending next year. Why did you choose the May show vs. the one in August which appears to be geared more towards summer / t-shirt apparel?
I was also planning on attending Agenda in January of '09, have you or anyone shown at this show?
We chose the May show because we were finally ready to break in to retail (previous sales were all on the internet).
this show is mostly boutique buyers which is really great cause they are very willing to try new brands if it catches their eye.
Havent decided yet if we are gonna do August. It depends how tomorrow goes and what the final numbers are.
What type of show is Agenda? who is it geared towards?
Good question. It appears to be a mix of boutiquie / mainstream geared mainly toward the urban streetwear market. It appeals to me as it features a lot of independent shirt designers / small labels. And the cost of entry is relatively cheap compared to the other shows. Also, you are limited to just racks and your apparel, no booths or elaborate marketing.
But, am very curious to hear if anyone else has been and what their experience is before I shell out the dough to go; gulp. Thank you so much for your post on Fame though, since I'm local as well, I may apply for August too. Hope it goes well for you tomorrow! Please post again and let us know. Best of luck, and at least the weather will be on your side!
Congratulations Rachel! That's a huge, scary step!
Do you mind sharing your website url?
I'm launching my line this October at the Atlanta ApparelMart. It's local - so I save money - and it's an up-and-coming show. Hopefully I can get invited to the PREMIERE show when I send my samples in.
I used to design for a private label and we showed at Magic, Intermezzo, etc... it was a pretty well established line so the buyers were already aware of it. IMy plan is to do smaller, local shows for the first few and sell retail online. During that first 6 months to 9 months I will pour money into PR (press releases, blogging, marketing, advertising), web development, etc... to gain a following.
I have a niche market product, too - and I'm just afraid the larger shows won't have buyers that will be interested in my line at first. Early adopters will come from a local, boutique demographic and they have a tradeshow, but I have to have 10 of their demographic clients on the books before I can show at it. It is a catch 22, for sure.
Hey-
Don't have a website at the moment. but wanted to share the outcome of our experience. We would but selling to 9 boutiques all over the country. Hoping those orders turn in to more orders. The reaction to our line was pretty good. We were different then any other t-shirt line at the show. Was able to get a good idea of what people liked and didn't. Definitely had one or two styles that were favorites and then a few that got no reaction at all. It's interesting to see. Most likely we will return to the show in August.
I'm sure good things are coming. Keep us posted and let us know when you get some stuff on the web so we can see your work.
As soon as I am up and live I will post my url.
And, I just won a free blog site from a developer that I have been talking to about my website! They will design it and host it for free for 6 months. Things are coming together!!!!
Thanks so much for the info Rachael. I think you've swayed me into attending in August. So, hope to see you there. Congrats on the sales and positive feedback!
Did you have appointments lined up or did you get your new accounts from people just browsing? I was thinking of doing FAME but going for the big fish at PROJECT SHOW in August. Also wanted to do CAPSULE but all the spots are filled.
I find that the main thing to do when going to a trade show is get infomration from every single person that walks into your booth. Then once the show is over to make sure to contact each one of them. This is very important, many people at the shows are overwhelmed and don;t necessarily place orders - but if you call them once they are back in thier own place you have a much better chance of establishing a relationship.
Well - we try and train our sales people to try to get into some sort of conversation and then once you engage in that and say - "by the way do you have a card?" they will generally give you one. It's not easy, but a sure way of getting contacts.
First Tradeshow experience 
