Shortly after launching our new business last year we set up our first pop up for the final race of the season. With just a couple styles in both Adult & Youth apparel we wanted to introduce our brand at the track as well as offer a fun experience for those who were kind enough to stop by. With one apparel rack on display, a Lil' Smokies Racing sign and the smell of popcorn we had a successful first event.
Wood hanging rack // Popcorn Machine // Popcorn boxes
This year we were trilled when Lil' Smokies Racing was accepted to be a vendor in a local One Moto show. This was the 15th year of the event and we have attended in the past with our kids, but this was our first year as a vendor. Knowing what to expect and have a visual idea as to where the vendors were set up was an advantage. Our combined retail background in marketing and merchandising did help as well. But this was the first time we got to design a booth. Decide every detail, share our designs and brand with more than just our moto race community.
Since our first vendor booth set up, to the many pop-ups in between, the number one question we have gotten has been, "Where is your store located?" Many are shocked to find out we are only an e-commerce brand and that this was our first year in business. But as an owner wearing many hats; designer/merchant/brand manager, we are stoked to hear that everyone loves the brand as much as we do.
I wanted to share some things we had done that will hopefully help you as you are looking at ideas for your next pop-up, vendor booth, festival, or trade show.
Booth Display:
We set up the tent in our driveway many times and played around with placement of clothing fixtures and displays. Finding the right configuration before hand made the set up so much easier.
Our tent is black so choosing fixtures that would brighten up the tent were important. Adding wood elements, metals, and plants helped make the booth pop. We pulled A LOT of our displays from our house for the booth. Being our first event we didn't know what to expect so kept it pretty simple. I ordered one more bamboo clothing rack to offer an adult side and youth side. I love that it has a top shelf to display signage or additional products. The only downside is they do not collapse but they are very light weight.
Lighting! Even thought the event was outside it ran until 8pm in the evening so we wanted to add lighting to the booth and I'm so glad we did! It added another element to the booth inviting customers to come into shop. Now this event had power hook ups for us, however when we set up at the track we do not have power. Our Goal Zero Yeti 6000X Generator come in clutch! We are able to have power without the loud noise of a gas generator. (we've actually had this for years and works great for the pop-ups as well as at the track charging bikes!)
We both envisioned a vintage bike in our booth since this was a MOTO show. It definitely drew people into the booth and was a conversation starter. I had remembered from years past that the bikes were all displayed on boxes at the show, so here is the bike sitting on one side of our corn hole game. Haha! I hand painted the Lil' Smokies sign to cover the hole.
Signage, Decor, & Branding:
Like the sign on the bike stand I also painted our logo onto a scrap piece of wood for our exterior signage. We had an extra piece of bamboo that matched the bamboo from the clothing racks so it was perfect! A trip to Home Depot to buy a couple pipes with an elbow joint and we zip-tied it to the front corner of the tent. I loved how you can see the sign walking along the rows of vendor tents.
For additional branding we have our vinyl signage in the back of the twins leaning over the deck above the starting line at Thursday Night Motocross. Another conversation starter sharing the story of the two behind the name of the brand.
As a new brand it was important to me to tell our story. Another find of two scrap pieces of wood turned into mood boards sharing who we are and how we came up with some of our designs.
To display our stickers we used a three drawer tool box as well as a red rolling garage cart as our cash wrap for customers transactions. I loved that both fit seamlessly with our brand as well as provided functionality for product in our booth.
For our DIRT NOTES: a race craft journal we displayed an assortment of books in a three tiered locker as well as some folded Lil' Smokies sweatshirts. On top of the locker we added a vintage gumball machine and filled it with used spark plugs. Another conversation starter and a customer favorite in the booth!
We were one of a very small amount of vendors that had kids apparel so making our signage clear and simple was important. Displaying signage on the top of the racks for both Adult and Youth. and custom hang tags were designed for size and price on every item.
Items from around our home included the plants, wood display boxes and
Tool Box // Locker // Garage Rolling Cart // Mirror // Chalk signs //
Hope this inspires and excites you for your next vendor event!