Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Lulu & Lolie

I don't think I've mentioned it here on the blog, but I took on a new adventure with my friend Lucy (from my thrifting with LuluBelle posts), and opened a booth at an antique mall. Lucy talked about renting a booth a while back. We've both been collectors for a long time and love seeking out new treasures, but out collections have been getting quite large. It's time to let some of them go. Going in on it together has made it a lot more fun, and a lot less scary if we fail completely.

Construction on the Antique mall finished up a few weeks ago and we moved in. To this..

We were surprised not to see any dividers, and to find that our booth had been cut short by about two feet. We made the decision to upgrade to a bigger booth and ran over to IKEA to get some book shelves. That was an adventure in itself since we weren't able to fit to fit as many as we needed in the back of the car. Oops! After a long day's work, our shelves were constructed and we put up a peg board wall with plans to paint the next day.

A few days later we were much happier with our look (the lighting is pretty awful, so please excuse the photos)..

Towards the end of the week of our soft opening, a family friend of Lucy's (who has done the antique booth thing before) offered to help us out with a few tips on maximizing space and organizing things so they work better. Of course we took him up, and were even more pleased with this new look..



There is so much more useable space, things are organized in groups that make sense, we're actually using up all of our space, and the little displays are much more appealing. We have some more plans to add a rug since the floor isn't exactly pretty, an extra jewellery case for enamel pins and necklaces, and more.

Our grand opening was this past Saturday and it was absolutely packed! We were so happy with the result and all the support we've received from our friends both online and off. I am so excited to see how this journey of ours continues.

If you would like to know more, want more updates (including some fun tips and stories on vintage goods), or would just like to support us, you can check out our facebook page. Our name, of course, is taken from Lucy's online persona, LuluBelle, and part of my Etsy shop name, Lolie Jane Vintage.