Now Exactly Why Did I Have to Rent a Car for This Week? Shouldn't I Be in the Store Selling?

Yes, I should be in the store selling. But no, I can't guarrantee that my potential customers know I'm there. So there's quite a bit of running around, as we take advantage of this craze for marketplaces. I think there were five of them yesterday alone in the Milwaukee area.

Today (Sunday) we will be at the Our Milwaukee Buy Local Fair, along with other members of the organization. Lanora Hurley of Next Chapter will be selling kids books and I've got adult. I'm trying to bring a broad selection, but I will do some focus on local authors and regional books.

It's 1-5 PM at the Lakefront Brewery Palm Garden, 1872 N. Commerce (on the Beerline, the west bank of the Milwaukee River, north of downtown). Contiguous to that is the Outpost Natural Foods Alternative Gift Fair (these fairs are two parts of a whole, not competitors) where nonprofits are have booths that offer options buying, well, stuff.

And then...

Tomorrow night (Monday, December 7th) we'll be at the Shorewood River Club from 5-9 for the Holiday Gift Show, put together by The Basic Shop. Other folks whol'll be there include Shop, Murray Hill Pottery, our friends at Chartreuse, who recently moved from Bay View to Brady Street and Adam from Eco Hatchery, who told me on a recent visit that their energy-saving, carbon-footprint-lowering, one-stop-shopping gift pack has been finding its market. If you can't make the show, we're also selling it at Boswell.

The Shorewood River Club is at 3565 N. Morris Blvd. We'll bring an eclectic mix of books and some gifts that don't conflict with folks selling at the other stores (my mentor on these things, Angela, is a big fan of category exclusives at these fairs.)

Vendors at the show, a map, and more.

And then...

Thursday (December 10th) we're at the Eastcastle Book Fair from 2-6 PM. It's open to the public, and just down the road from the store on Bradford Avenue. It's of course targeted to residents, it's definitely open to outsiders (the fair does double duty as an open house) and they would love to see you. My emphasis is on kids books this time because...

There's also a Giving Tree--they are collecting books for Ronald McDonald House. Read more.

And then...

Finally, on Saturday, December 12th, we're a vendor at the Urban Garage Sale. It's 10:30-5:30 at the Turner Hall Ballroom. The focus on this show is bargains, so we're bringing out some fresh bargain books that we just found at the CIROBE show, plus we're marking down lots of our older bargain and second hand titles.

A link to everything garage.

Now if only there wasn't snow on the forecast for just about every day, I'd be happy but exhausted.

***

Congrats to Polly Morris, just named Executive Director of the Bradley Sculpture Garden. I skimmed the article, but I didn't catch that one of my favorite FOB's (Friends of Boswell) was running the thing. This is going to be a great move for Milwaukee, as anyone who's visited the wonderful sculpture gardens in Minneapolis and Grand Rapids (Yes, Grand Rapids, you have to go) will attest. Read the article here.