So I went to our local annual craft show Saturday to get some gifts...

(Just for a side note, I have done Black Friday before, but decided not to participate this time.)

This is a very long-running annual show, and part of my family tradition. My mother took me for as far back as I could walk safely, and I am 34. The first year I took my husband, about four years ago, we had to push hard through crowds four people deep.

Not this year. DEAD DEAD DEAD.
And I noticed the amount of vendors was down about 30-40%.
Another side note, I am quite the rennie, and I have noticed a lot of online mom-n-pop ren fest crafters have gone out of business this year also.
Several crafters I always see at these shows were not there at all.
It actually really upset me.

Since when does warehouse retail win out against these people? I thought they would survive better than this.
I bought what I could, I do like to support.

retail giants like WalMart and Target and the like. I'm a crafter, and I cringe when I see items in stores selling for $10 that would COST me more than that just in materials to reproduce, not even compensating for labor.

crafters and get a unique item that will last forever than a disposable item from Target that is made of plastic and meant to be discarded after a single season.

Friends who are on my Xmas list know they're not getting anything corporate from me. Either I weave or knit it, or I buy something from soapmakers, candlemakers, jewelers, potters, or other artisans. The only thing I send from regular stores is their annual chile fix.

same here. Unfortunately most people do not seem to think like that.

than what folks could buy a Chinese import with ...whole made with clever stiching and decent fabric. I wondered how all these years since the early 70's all our crafters goods, materials, buttons, decorative embellishments had been so expensive for us AMERICAN Crafters to buy...and yet the Chinese had access to the fabric and such that cost them nothing along with their labor. I was doing my labor for free in the last years trying to keep up with the fabric cost rising. And I didn't have to ship my goods thousands of miles across the Pacific and then have my crafts trucked to the East Coast.

Even with the pennies a day labor...how can they still sell the Chinese stuff so cheaply with the extra cost for fabric and material...and the oil to ship it over the Pacific and then on Trucks to the East Coast?

It's never made any sense to me...but I know that many of us earned money in the 60's enough to keep us going and that started to fade away...maybe Nixon...then Carter was an uptick in business for me and the final nail was with Reagan where there was still interest but eventually in his second term it disappeared. Our Trade Policy has been horrible for decades cutting out those who like to work with their hands as artisans. It was an American Tradition that artisans could get by in rural areas and even cities selling their wares...but not against knock offs where the materials are available so cheaply to some...but not to others.

:shrug:

I think the positive reports on the holiday shopping are nothing more than propaganda. I don't believe a word they say anymore.

People who attend them as a regular hobby are "Rennies".

Thanks!:hi:

formerly of Renaissance Pleasure Faire- North and Stafford Lake Forest Faire (NorCal): Elizabeth, Lady Kytson here, member of Guild of St. George. Also, former director of the front gate band and member of the Queen's Band.

I think all craft sales will be poor this year; people are spending their money on gas and food.

or so I've noticed recently

:hi:

And stopped. Couldn't keep it going.
tried to sell my paintings too.

Went to this year's Artcrawl the weekend before T-day.
There were a lot fewer people in the crowds. No crowds.

I'm a quilter and as soon as the Chinese started selling their 2-stitches-to-an-inch quilts for practically nothing, you couldn't give a quality piece away. Now I just do it for fun and that's fine.

I'm getting some of the kids' presents there this year.

As a crafter, though, I get it. People don't have as much spending money, and they don't want to pay what well-made stuff is really worth. It's too bad, though.