Vintage love and shopping during COVID-19
SHOP NEWS | Whelp. WHELP. Shopping during COVID-19. It’s a whole thing.
Trunkshow Raleigh is located at 1526 Wake Forest Rd, Raleigh, NC 27604. Head downstairs and turn right into the first room to find my booth.
My new shop space opened today at Trunkshow Raleigh (1526 Wake Forest Rd, Raleigh, NC 27604). It’s a little booth, just 8′ x 5′, set in the back corner of the front room, so in the grand scheme of things, no big deal, but I was excited about it. Huzzah?
For the first time, I have a brick-and-mortar, real-life space for you to visit.
I have been so pumped, gearing up for this to happen. I mean, I was ready. Stocked up. Has plans to move to a bigger 10′ x 10′ space if the little booth was successful. I have SO MUCH STUFF ready. And then …
THEN … corona virus/ COVID-19 happened. And shopping during COVID-19 turns out to be complicated.
S0 as I said … WHELP. I just don’t even know what to say. It feels like the whole thing is a big fat bust.
I mean, it’s not. Of course it’s not. The space literally just opened today and I haven’t even checked in with the organizers about if anyone showed up and if anything sold. But it just feels doomed. That is surely irrational. After all, the space still opened! Despite everything! It was open today and it will be open tomorrow.
My booth is there and filled with goodies, and I’ve made a three month commitment to start (and was mentally committed to going longer, even if sales were slow), but it’s just such a bummer. I was really excited, and now I’m in this position where I feel like it would be unethical to even suggest you go for a visit. (Even though I really want people to visit. Sigh.)
It’s a disappointment, you know?
In the grand scheme of things, I’m very lucky and I’m in a position of extreme privilege in terms of getting through all this COVID-19 turmoil. Being isolated at home isn’t too much of a hardship. My partner’s job is doable from home and feels relatively secure for the moment. My little shop dreams are small potatoes in the big bucket of big potato disappointments, right? (What am I even saying? Potatoes?) I know it, I get it, I’m a whiner, but I’m still bummed.
Now, I truly believe we will all weather this pandemic relatively well.
If we continue to practice social distancing, and if we are smart about self-quarantining and staying home as much as possible, we will successfully flatten that dreaded curve and come out of this on the other side dented, but okay. The global economy is obviously already taking a massive hit, but I think all in all, we’ll be alright. If we’re smart. I mean, sure, I’m scared. Considering where I live and who the current president is (ugh), that fear is definitely justified, but I admit that today, I’m just feeling bummed more than anything else. Selfishly, myopically bummed.
Obviously, I’m not giving up.
While I am not currently sourcing any new items or stock and am home with my own family, social distancing it up a notch, my online store remains open and I am continuing to sell items on Etsy and Poshmark. Shopping during COVID-19 will continue (I mean, not for me, but for you, I hope). All of my items were sourced long before the COVID-19 outbreak and I am sanitizing things before packing them. If you do buy, obviously a variety of postal carriers will also handle your package as it makes it way to you, but as far as limiting contact with others and staying away from groups goes, I think online shopping is still a safe (ish? er?) bet. At least for the moment, and also likely in the long run. So please do continue to shop from me online, even if you don’t visit the booth in person. I’d appreciate it.
I’m also not giving up on Trunkshow by any means.
I’m there for the next three months and however long we can all manage to afford the rent afterwards. They’re only letting in 10 shoppers at a time at the moment, and we’ll see how things go. Cross fingers. Cross toes. Think happy thoughts.
Here’s a fun video of one of the vendors and organizers showing off the space:
Today I guess I’m wallowing a little, but tomorrow, who knows? Stay safe out there, friends. Shopping during COVID-19 is still possible. Thanks to folks like ME.
As I work to get products up for sale on my own site, interested buyers should feel free to shop Will and Bequeath on Etsy and Will and Bequeath on Poshmark. These platforms take a large percentage of the sale price, and charge various other feels to sellers as well. In the future, I hope to have all my stock available on my own site, but until then…