Booth portability

Ease of setup and portability.

Often the size of the display will be dictated by the size of the mule, or whatever is used o move the gear from studio to show. It makes little since to use a shelf that will not fit inside the truck or trailer.

A few years ago we were setting up at a show and we were not allowed to drive on the grass because the ground was wet from rain. We had to hump the goods and the setup nearly 50 yards to our assigned spot. No problem, we are fit, we have a cart and a plan for just such occasions.

However the booth adjacent to ours was another story. The elderly woman had no cart and was trying to move and set up a display that was entirely constructed from very heavy welded angle iron. By herself. This display was really well built and weighed hundreds of pounds. It was a very nice wrought iron style design but it was as heavy as a dead minister.

The ironic part was she made and sold beautiful calligraphy wall hanging and gift cards. Made from paper. Light weight paper. Paper that could be transported easily in a few totes and displayed on a wire or light weight wood rack. Of course we lent a hand and we are friends to this day. The point we am trying to make is the booth was ridiculously over build and unnecessarily heavy.

What a chore it must have been for her to setup and tear down with this contraception. If she were selling iron wear or heavy pottery or anvils I could understand why she would need such an overbuilt display but even heavy pottery can be safely set up on light weigh, strong wood slats. As I think back I remember now she said that the display was designed and constructed by a good hearted friend, as a favor, who obviously was a fine welder but had little or no idea about the practically of using such heavy material to display paper.

We have seen many variations that range from cinder block or milk crates to finely crafted shelves that folded down for easy transpiration. We use shelves that are made from 1" by 2" pine frames covered with 1/4" luan plywood. Both elements are not so strong by themselves but when they are glued together they are much stronger than we need while weighting very little. The shelves double as "carriers" used to transport a bunch of light weight items all at once. We just lay them on the table, pile the stuff on, and carry them like a stretcher. Turns 4 or 5 trips into 1.

Whether or not your display can accommodate overstock storage is usually dependant on the type of goods you are selling. Art and paintings or fabric wares can be easily stashed in totes but the totes need to be kept out of site but at the same time, handy to get into. Everything that requires boxes, infract anything that is NOT part of the display, used to make or the goods themselves need to be kept out of site so as not to clutter the booth or distract from your goods. Under table storage is a no brainier but be sure it is accessible when the booth is crowded. It can be a challenge to fish out a box from beneath a table when there are 3 or 4 people in the booth.

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