Event Strategy*: Savannah Sucked

Savannah, GA is home to the second largest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the country, second only to New York.  The city's website estimates that approximately 600,000 people infiltrate the city to take part in the drunken spectacle.  I took this photo at 11 a.m. as I rode past this guy on East Broughton Street.

Every year, another group of people head for the city that gave us Paula Deen, Johnny Mercer and Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil, people that know a money-making opportunity when they see it.  Anyone can get a one-day peddlers license on March 17 for the right to tote around whatever merchandise you want to "hawk" to the green mob.  Most of them are novelty peddlers, meaning they sell junk for which, unbelievably, people pay real money.  I'm talking feather boas, huge green sunglasses, mardi gras beads, and, horrifically, five dollar t-shirts.  And they look like five dollar t-shirts.  They are decorated with sayings such as "Irish Today, Hungover Tomorrow" and "Irish Whisky Makes Me Frisky."  <sigh>

Our thinking?  Wouldn't it be a breath of fresh air for someone to be down there selling high-quality shirts that were actually cool?  Certainly even intoxicated people would appreciate the option.  Maybe.  We didn't really get the chance to test our theory.  As soon as we got down there in the cold, damp air, found a good spot amidst the chaos and got our selling hats on... the rain started to fall.  Big. Fat. COLD. Rain. 

Their's:   Our's: 

To be fair, we were late.  We should have gotten there earlier... right when the parade began.  We really thought that most of the festivities would kick into gear after the parade.  I'm telling you now, if you're considering doing this, get settled right before the parade begins and expect to be done when it's over.  I wish someone had told me this.

The bottom line?  $700 wholesale apparel + $125 hotel + $225 license + $80 gas + hours of work in preparations + $100 estimated incidentals -$200 in sales = a total loss of about $1130.  I think we could have profited at least $2000 if we had made better decisions and had more knowledge of the event beforehand.  But, most of the other peddlers were toothless, and nothing against toothless people, but I doubt they're writing blog posts like this one, hence a lack of information from experienced hawkers. 

On to the next.

*Our strategy to launch con&kat into the stratosphere is three-pronged: events, online, and boutique.  I'll try to name my posts accordingly.

--Melanie