Trying to fit an 800sq ft shop into a stand of 36sq ft was quite an effort. Just getting there proved to be what we politely called (later) an ‘adventure’. Apparently the official postcode for the centre has a reputation for making sat navs wander aimlessly around London without actually getting anywhere. Not to worry, we had an A-Z as back-up – oh, of course; somehow the page relating to Islington is missing! We ended up using the postcode of a nearby hotel which the sat nav liked, but we’d missed our unloading slot and had to empty our van and shift all our stock across the forecourt. Fun.
Still, that was bliss compared to the ‘adventure’ a few days later when the clutch went on our car coming into Walthamstow. It was so much ‘fun’ after a day selling at the show to take the giant yellow taxi cab (otherwise known as an AA lorry) all the way back to Cambridge...especially when they turned up several hours later than their original estimate. Oh well, at least I got a couple of hours sleep the night before, underneath a desk in a hotel (no, I’m not explaining)!
Still it was definitely an experience and strangely, we met loads of our customers at the show – I’m not sure if they were happy or disappointed to see us, certainly one refused to come to London to buy from a shop that was in the same village as him!
Will we do it again? Probably...if we get a better spot next time.
We would like to say a big thank you to all the friends, family, staff and adjacent stallholders that helped us during the show, looked after Martha, sympathised over our transport issues and kept us well supplied with coffee. Without them, I think Kathryn and I would have gone up in smoke at some point!
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