Stall fittings for trading tents?

[sally]

I've got a grant application going through at the moment to get some funding towards a new trading tent (yay! says anyone who has been stuck next to my tatty self-built tent at shows before now...) and I'm also going to be looking for some portable display wossnames. I've been trawling the shopfitting sites, but of course most of their stuff is designed for a static shop, not to be hoicked in and out of a van and stood on squidgy ground in all weathers, not to mention the truly startling prices these sites charge for things.

Added to which is the overall desire to have whatever stall fittings I end up with both nice and stable the better to show off my wide and varied selection of desireable goodies, but also not so glaringly modern looking that they ruin all shopping ambience at a historic event. Wrapping things in hessian only goes so far

So, any suggestions on what items have worked well for the other traders here over the years, or even what display stands/tables/racks etc have failed miserably for you?

[Fairfax]

Hi Sally, This is my first full year of trading and like you had been looking for fittings that were appropriate for what we do, everything I looked at was either far too expensive or just not suitable for transport/weight/style etc. Sooo, with this in mind, I was chatting to a reenactor/woodworker at Tewkesbury about this same problem, we are now going to start to build/make/design fittings for traders at sensible prices, initially, I will design a few bits for my trading tent, try them out as prototypes etc and then enlarge on it, he will then build to the requirments of the trader,etc. I am mainly looking at flat-pack, easy/quick assembly, light-weight affordable fittings, all wooden, rustic and above all safe. Tried to build my own out of metal spur-shelving tied on to clothing rails, looked good but then fell down at Cossie, had cheap, light-weight pine book cases, they fell down at cossie, had collapsable bookcases and yes, you got it, fell down at Cossie. I already have a few bits of tent furniture that I tried out at Delapre, they worked, didn't fall down and utilised the centre pole really well. I will be at Berkeley, so if you want to come and have a look or a chat, I'm Chapter & Verse.

[sally]

I think you'll be onto a winner there!
One possible area to bear in mind as you design are table top stands that help traders get the most out af a standard 6ft by 2ft trading table at any of the various indoor events or otr craft shows that they may do. Something that folds flat that incorporates a couple of cantilevered riser shelves and a back board to hang things from that the trader can still look over the top of to chat to their customers is bound to find a market

[arrowmaker]

Hi Sally, This is my first full year of trading and like you had been looking for fittings that were appropriate for what we do, everything I looked at was either far too expensive or just not suitable for transport/weight/style etc. Sooo, with this in mind, I was chatting to a reenactor/woodworker at Tewkesbury about this same problem, we are now going to start to build/make/design fittings for traders at sensible prices, initially, I will design a few bits for my trading tent, try them out as prototypes etc and then enlarge on it, he will then build to the requirments of the trader,etc. I am mainly looking at flat-pack, easy/quick assembly, light-weight affordable fittings, all wooden, rustic and above all safe. Tried to build my own out of metal spur-shelving tied on to clothing rails, looked good but then fell down at Cossie, had cheap, light-weight pine book cases, they fell down at cossie, had collapsable bookcases and yes, you got it, fell down at Cossie. I already have a few bits of tent furniture that I tried out at Delapre, they worked, didn't fall down and utilised the centre pole really well. I will be at Berkeley, so if you want to come and have a look or a chat, I'm Chapter & Verse.

Fairfax my be interested will come and find you at Berkeley
Fred

[Dilligaf]

Hi sally I have made some specific stall display items for other traders in the past to their own designs. If there is anything you need making I would be happy to help. I'm at berkeley this weekend if you want to chat. Brian