Monday morning and I can take a bit of a breath.
The Luton show is of the old school both in spirit and in body, set in a fairly unloved state comprehensive, and scattered across three rooms not unlike the vibe of the old Croydon show. The audience was mainly families and consisted of rather large ladies who (and I have this on good authority) shop in Matalan. The morning was busy but the afternoon died due apparently to Luton playing at home. One thing that was remarked upon by several people was the amount of trade. This doesn't work. The guy next to me sold nothing all day and packed up at 4.00. Too much trade,especially if it's mainly box merchants, dilutes the cash flow so no-one has a good day.
After a little bit of unnecessary last minute wrangling I waved Garn off for the final time. It'll soon reappear at Midlands shows with several things added by the sound of it. I can see the road full of Oxford Die-casts now. The layout has served me well both in an exhibition sense, and at the outset an emotional one so it's good to see it go in many ways. Onward and upward; I have things I want to build and I need to clear the decks so I can do this. Not having an expanse of loft space to store chronologically labeled layouts for decades, I have work on a conveyor belt process. And with the speed with which they're being turned out at the moment I have to shift.
Interesting - I did Luton years ago and also saw a trader pack up early and walk out. Maybe it's the same bloke ?
ReplyDeleteLots of shows overdo the RTR but then the world is full of RTR traders. Most show managers get a phone call or two from people who offer to fill the vacant slots a week before the event. Worse, traders who previoulsy did something different, gradually fill their stand with RTR so you either chuck them out or live with it.