Articles
Tis the Summer Season
by Marianne E. Alexander of
Bear Faced Bears ™
Here we are in July, which means a lot of things to a lot of people, and by
extension that means a lot of inspiration for bears.
In America there is the 4th of July celebrations with fireworks and back yard
barbeques and picnics of all kinds. This can inspire red white and blue bears
and patriotic bears of course, but thinking a little outside the box, it can
also inspire bears made of softly sparkling yarn, (to celebrate the fireworks),
or picnicking bears with baskets or red and white checkered cloths to sit on.
In the rest of the world, the northern hemisphere anyway, July is often vacation
time which makes bears by the sea, bears with suitcases, bears on cruises with
sailor suits and little girl bears in summer dresses all spring to mind. For the
stay at homes, the gardens are in full bloom, so we can have bears with flowers,
bears with watering cans, bears with butterflies and bumblebees, or bears that
simply reflect the wonderful riot of colors to be seen this time of year. What a
great time to create in the beautiful clear strong colors of summer. Every
season lends something to creativity.
Don’t forget that your collectors too are influenced by seasonal colorings. This
is a subject I return to quite often, because it is one thing to talk in general
about how to use the seasons to your advantage both in terms of inspiration,
mood and color palette, but sometimes it helps to break this down into small day
to day practical applications so that you can make a bear that actually takes
advantage of this fact. Just as a small example, summer red is light and clear
and is not the same as Christmas red which is deeper and richer, and a summer
red is more likely to sell this time of year.
It seems to me that about half of us are working with the seasons, making bears
to sell within a very short time of completion, while the other half are
consistently working out of season, stockpiling for summer shows in the winter
and getting ready for the Christmas rush around now. So having talked to those
who are working within the seasons, let’s talk a little bit about “Christmas in
July”.
If you are not on the summer show circuit, or you do not have a small outlet on
a cruise ship, or in the hotel lobby of a popular vacation spot (and if you
don’t and wish you did, then try getting one of those spots through marketing to
the gift/souvenir market) then the chances are that you are going to see a
retail slow down, commonly known as “the summer doldrums” for the next little
while. For those of you who are relative newcomers to the business and are
concerned because you thought it was you...relax, a general drop off of all
retail sales happens this time of year, and it picks up again to run into the
busiest season from late autumn through Christmas.
So what do you do in the meantime? Well the first thing you need to do, is get
yourself and your thoughts out of season and just a little out of sync with what
is going on around you. Don’t worry it only feels really odd the first couple of
times! Then start buying.
If this is the slow time for ALL retail, then it follows that it is the very
best time for you to be buying. It is indeed a buyer’s market. Sales abound, and
retailers will be selling off all kinds of goodies at prices that are often
below wholesale just to get the turnover and make the space for new stock coming
in, which will absolutely, definitely, and without the smallest shred of a
doubt, be at higher prices than they were last year. This is particularly true
of the larger retailers, and slightly truer for brick and mortar enterprises
than on line.
Let’s imagine for the moment that you are planning to make an elf or a Santa
bear for sale at Christmas, and you know that you will need white, red and green
fabric/roving/threads/yarns and some gold trim for this project. Buying what you
need today will cost you $X while if you get around to buying what you need
sometime from late fall on, those same items will cost at least 75% more
allowing for price increases between now and then. You get a break because these
items are out of season. However by the time you get around to offering the
finished product to the public, it will be in season, the retail will be back to
premium, and your profits will be substantially increased by the smaller
material costs you incurred.
So even if you are not able to wrap your head around actually making and
designing for Christmas right now, or you do not have the time, at least
consider stocking up on materials. It will make a big difference to your bottom
line later on.
However, if you are in a summer slump with some time on your hands, break out a
Christmas CD, think snow and jingle bells and have at it. Why? Well again it
comes back to the bottom line. I know a lot of artists, myself included at
various times in my career, to utter the time honored words “I could have sold
another 3 of those if I had had them!” Well that is 3times $X totally lost to
your business on that day. However, far more to the point, it is 3 opportunities
for repeat customers you have lost from not having enough Christmas stock.
From Christmas art and craft shows which start around October, to Ebay and your
own website, there are multiple opportunities to sell Christmas items to a
retail market that is in full swing. Any left overs can always be carefully
stored until next year and offered at a different venue.
One of the nice things about Christmas is that it is traditional, so you can
play it safe and make your Christmas stock pretty timeless by sticking to well
loved themes and a narrow color palette.
Later on, closer to the actual season when you are more likely to get really
inspired, you can add a couple of wonderfully new and different interpretations
of the Christmas theme if you are moved to do so. Well prepared, you will have
more time, and more energy to apply to the task, but that is something to talk
about later.
Speaking of new and different, a slow down of sales is a wonderful opportunity
to experiment, do a little Research and Development. If there is a shape you
have always wanted to try, a new arm, a different type of thread, armatures or
new jointing techniques, this is the time to go for it. At other times of the
year you might be too busy filling orders, and R&D is very time consuming. None
the less if you want to keep yourself and your product fresh it is a necessary
part of the artistic process. The most consistently successful artists have a
little something for everyone in their stock. They have traditional, they have
both complex and simple pieces, and they have a little spark of something new
and different to satisfy the repeat buyer who wants your style, but with an
unexpected twist.
Of course you might simply be taking a little time off for vacation yourself,
and this too has benefits as it refreshes your mind, body and your artistic
vision. In that case, breathe in the fresh air, walk by the ocean, bask in the
sun, or enjoy that backyard picnic, and most of all until next time
Be kind to yourselves
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