Hibernation

After eight successful weeks at the Sowa Vintage Market in downtown Boston, Maine Street Vintage, and DanielByron.com are taking a short break.

I've moved back to New York City, and am now looking for a job in the fashion industry.

Once I get settled, I certainly plan to return to the blogosphere with whatever project comes next.

I hope you have enjoyed reading thus far, and I look forward to seeing you again.

DB

Week #4

So I didn't post last week. I should have, and I regret that decision.

However, the booth has been evolving over the past couple of weeks, and now you can really see the difference between my first and most recent week.

Here's Week 1.

 

And now... Week 4.

I've added a whole new rack of clothing, two rugs, the flags, and rearranged some other items as well. I'm happy with the overall aesthetic, and the polished look will hopefully sell more clothing.

But after 4 modestly successful weeks of business, I now have a new 'problem'; I need more clothing. Luckily, that means more thrifting. To restock my inventory, I'm heading to Maine. This should be fun.

DB

Week #2

Another Sunday, another day at the booth. I changed some of my pricing structures, tweaked the layout of the booth, and I was ready for a big day. As we opened our 'doors' for business, I thought the booth looked great.

I'd love to have one more rug to cover up that piece of floor in the front, but other than that, I'm happy with the overall aesthetic. Here are a few shots of each section.

The mannequin on the left actually belongs to booth next door, but it totally fits with my stuff, so... that's nice. Unfortunately, the sign that I made wasn't great. The yellow was drowned out by the sun, I'll have to work on that.

I gave you guys a glimpse of this table last week, but I had a bunch of new items, so I figured I would repost it. Again, this table did very well at attracting customers.

But in the end, just like in life, its all about the clothing.

These racks were entirely new this week, a great collection of polos, button downs, and blazers.

And lastly, here are a few great summer shirts.

In the end, it was a good week. We sold a ton of clothing, passed out a number of business cards, and we were able to survive the 95 degree heat (although, to be honest, I think that definitely hurt our numbers.)

For our third week at the booth, I'm hoping to put together a collection specifically for the 4th of july. I've got a few old finds that should really make a splash.

And lastly, due to customer demand, I'm hoping to start an online store very soon, sometime in the next week or so. More on that later.

DB

Signage

Today, I'm working on signage.

I haven't painted anything since... high school? I honestly can't remember. But this morning, I broke out some paint, some stencils, and got to work.

Here's what I was using.

And here's the finished product.

I also needed to make some more purposeful signs about pricing, so I printed out a few word documents, and then tried to add a few personal touches.

Pretty simple, but hopefully the effort will be appreciated. 

OK, time to go make a few more.

DB

The Booth

Hey guys,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, its been a crazy couple of weeks. But I have to say, I love running this booth. The first week certainly had its ups and downs, leaving plenty of room for improvement, but I was still happy with how it all looked.

You may notice the framed logo on the right side of the photo. That's my logo! I wanted to create the illusion of an actual store, so a name, logo, and business cards were all something that I wanted to have before opening shop.

I used Elance.com to get a graphic designer to help me flesh out my concept. Here's the finished product.

I'm happy with how it came out, and it was definitely a good experience working with the designer. Once I had a logo, I used Google Apps for Business to register an email with my domain name (which is hosted by Hover.com), so feel free to message me at info@danielbyron.com. Once that was all set up, I had cards made at a local print shop.

These logistical items were tiresome, and costly, but I think important overall. 

Now back to the booth.

The stationary bike is the most important item in my store. Everyone who walked by it wanted to play with it; people were riding it, playing with the bell, and it just started a ton of conversations. The vintage Playboys, glassware, and decorative antiques also had a similar effect. 

In the end, it was a great Sunday. I sold a number of watches, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and a few button downs. And with zero experience doing something like this, I didn't really have many expectations, but after a long day I was happy enough with the final number. 

This week, I want that number to grow. I'll be adding blazers, polos, and ties. I also made some improvements to the booth itself, adding a beautiful blue rug and a new hanging rack. I'll certainly have some pictures for you next week, but if you want to come check it out for yourself, please do. Personally, I can't wait for Sunday. 

10am - 4pm at the Sowa Vintage Market

DB