Hutch Craft Show Market Review

This was my third vendor market of 2025! In one of my previous blogs about my first craft show, I mentioned that I got invited to another show. Well, this was the craft show that I was invited to! Being invited to craft shows is fun because it shows me that I display my items well and have relatable products that others would enjoy. 

This was the farthest I've driven to a show this year. Hutch is about an hour Northeast from my town in South Central Kansas and is just of stuck out in the country. This show had a lot of vendors attending, they had dog adoptions from the Hutch Humane Society, and other things to bring shoppers in. It was also an extremely hot summer day, so the heat plays a factor in what people do outside in Kansas. Sometimes it's just too hot to be outside!

I don't like to say that a craft show isn't worth it because at the end of the day, it's not all about making money. I get to network, show my brand and items that I make, meet new people, but this show was not what I was told it was going to be or expected, so that was a bit disappointing. I don't think it was a good show for the other vendors around me either, as they were irritated and started packing up early. I had only a few sales for the 6 hour show. I barely made my booth fee back, so I didn't earn much revenue off this event. I took this as a learning process to try new things because I won't know what will work and what won't work for my business. It could be something as simple as my niche isn't fit for Hutch, KS and that is okay! Others may have had the right niche and had a successful day. Everything factored including the hour drive there and back to set up the night before and the day of the show, it wasn't really worth it to me and I don't think that I would do it next year.

As a small business who attends craft shows, there will be good days and bad days. I use these days to learn more about my setup, listen to shopper comments about my products, the event or show, network with other small businesses, talk to shoppers about what I make and can do for them. I've only been doing craft shows for about 9 months now, and by no means am I an expert, but I've learned a lot in that short amount of time. I now know what will work and won't for my small business and I will stand strong and firm with that. 

Favorite items sold:

Anti Social Dog Mom embroidered crewneck
Dog Mama embroidered crewneck
Punch needle coasters
Fall Floral wristlet
MAMA graphic crewneck

As always, thank you for supporting my small business! It means the world to me that I am building this dream of mine!

Darby
Owner of Graceful Embroidery Co.