A couple of weekends ago, I participating in the NY NOW fair. NY NOW is an enormous wholesale home goods exposition that takes over the entire Javits Center twice a year. Exhibitors have to apply and be accepted in order to participate. I applied to the "Emerging Makers" section (a small part of the very large "Handmade" section of the show), which is limited to businesses that have been operating only a year or less.
The Javits Center is enormous!
When I heard I was accepted, I was thrilled! It would be my first large wholesale fair, and I was excited to meet business owners who might want to carry my ceramics.
The fair opened Saturday, January 30th, but the Friday before was the day to set up the stand. When Joe and I arrived at the Javits Center, we saw that the amount of space given to us "Emerging Makers" was pretty small, but the location was excellent - right in the middle of a big hallway that connected two large, main areas of the exhibition! Each new company was given a 24"x24" pedestal on which to display our products.
I am an "Emerging Maker!"
Very helpful staff setting up my pedestal.
My face after 8 hours of standing!
New friends :)
For four days, the twelve new companies (including Micòl Ceramics) showed the best items of our collections. Many customers stopped by each day, interested in our work. We made orders from new clients and many contacts for future ones.
NY NOW was an incredible experience for my new business. But the best part was the people that I met there. Designers from other new companies like Luz from Luz Ortiz, New York and Jackie from Lillian Jackson Textiles became my friends from the first day, always lending a hand and sharing information. It helped so much having these kind people around me during the long four-day show.
I hope I can participate in NY NOW again soon!