Thursday, June 30, 2011

First Friday Art Walk (in April)

Sarah and Rachel were invited by the owners of Alston Ink in downtown Pocatello to be their featured "artists" at the First Friday Art Walk on April 1st. They were invited by Stephanie and Neal Alston shortly after the article appeared in the paper about Rachel using her chocolate business to earn money for her leadership conference. Sarah and Rachel spent hours during the last week of March making mints for free samples and a whole bunch of peanut butter filled eggs, bunny suckers and solid chocolate bunnies. They set up a cute display at the front of the store and waited for people to stop and try (and hopefully buy) their chocolates.



They learned very quickly that you have to be pro-active to get people to stop and talk to you. A friendly smile just doesn't cut it. (Rachel was pretty used to it from the Chocolate Extravaganza, but we made Sarah sit on the outside until she invited ten people to try some free chocolate.) We also learned that the purpose of the Art Walk, besides to get recognition and business for local artists, is to give people in the community an opportunity to spend some time downtown and learn about the shops and stores there. Here's where Stephanie graciously stepped in and took over. She was wonderful. She obviously knew what she was doing, and stopped many people to brag about "these two high school students that have their own business of handmade chocolates". It was a great tactic. Most adults were impressed by my beautiful little entrepreneurs, and at least tried the mints and congratulated them on their business venture. A few even recognized Rachel from the article in the paper. Many people loved the mints so much they also bought Easter treats. Then, Stephanie would ask them if they've ever been in her shop and invited them in to show them around. The girls and I ended up having a nice time together, and Stephanie invited them back later in the summer, when business would be slow. We'll see if they're up for that again. They're not sure, but earning $76 in one evening was pretty nice!

No comments:

Post a Comment