September 2016 #Brimfield Recap

It's hard to believe that the last Brimfield show of the year has come and gone. And what a year it has been! May was one of the biggest shows in years and July and September were relatively busy as well. The Thursday of the September show was particularly busy. Traffic was backed up on Route 20 towards Sturbridge and parking lots were full. There were big crowds over the weekend despite some questionable weather on the last day.

Keep reading to find out more about how our latest vintage camper turned out, Food52's first ever Brimfield booth as well as the trends their editors spotted at the show, the most searched for items and categories in the Brimfield Flea Finder app and some pretty eye candy to get you through the winter!

Vintage Camper Overload

A month or so before the September show we got the final word from Food52 that they would definitely be using our vintage camper at the show. We were excited to see what they would do to her (and weren't disappointed!) but that left us without a camper for our newly acquired prime location at Hertan's. So we did the only rational thing and went out and got another one a month before the show. We then worked our butts off sprucing her up. Read more about that here. And this is how she turned out:

Before and after our our mid 1960's Frolic

We love having a vintage camper with us at the show for a few reasons. First, it's nice to have a mobile office for all the things we do at the show. Second, it makes things a little more comfortable for us and our girls while we are there for some long days. We basically spend 8-9 straight days there. We sleep at home because we are local but being there for 10-12+ hour days is a lot with a two and a four year old. Third and finally, these babies get a lot of attention. People are drawn to them and love looking at them. That gives us a great opportunity to talk to thousands of people a day. We love chatting about the camper, sharing our knowledge of the show, making them aware of the app, making suggestions on where to eat and where to shop. 

Food52 Brimfield Lawn Party

Speaking of Food52, their Lawn Party booth at Central Park was a big hit! If you were able to stop by during the show, you know what I mean. For those of you who missed it here's a look at their set up in all it's glory!

The booth was a cool respite from the chaos of the show. They had lawn games, picnic tables and their beautiful housewares on display.

Half of the booth gave off the feel of a high-end kitchen boutique while the other half took glamping to the max. I was amazed at how their team transformed our vintage camper with a little fabric and some accessories!

Their team also shopped for amazing props and pieces for their own personal collections while they were there. Here is a great piece they did on trends they spotted at the show: 6 Trends We've Spotted in Brimfield (Plus What Everyone is Searching For!)

And if you missed their booth at the September show, we have a feeling they'll be back in May! 

App Update

This year was definitely a turning point for the app. We received so much positive feedback from dealers and shoppers and the number of downloads and searches were way up. There were 25,000 searches in the app in 2016! Almost all of our new dealer sign ups were referrals from other dealers who have begun to see how powerful a tool it can be. Shoppers have always said finding a specific item or dealer in Brimfield is like finding a needle in a haystack but that's starting to change! We are really excited about the progress we have made and some of the changes we have planned for next year. 

It may sound a little nerdy, but one of the things we love to do is analyze the search data to see what people are looking for. That helps us know what kinds of dealers to target and also helps us educate dealers on certain keywords to include in their listings. Over the winter we plan to dig through the data a bit more to figure out how to help make the app even more effective. 

In the meantime, here is a list of the top 20 searched categories for 2016 and some eye candy to go along with them:

Furniture

B and B Antiques

Mid Century Modern

Nomadic Trading

Architectural and Garden

Susan Bates Home and Garden

 Advertising & Displays

Joe Rodrigues

Industrial 

Anthony Rosa Modarts

Vintage Textiles & Linens

Things A.T. Roche

Americana

Hometown Antiques at Hertan's

Marine and Nautical

Traditional Marine

Vintage Clothing

Mertz and Moser

Art & Paintings

Salvnation

Lamps & Lighting

Anchored Salvage

Cast Iron

Rick Guillemette

Fiesta & Depression

Vine of Time

Furniture Period

Judy Bee's Antiques

Kitchen Related

John Rowley & Loretta Meserve

Furniture Country

Juniper Hill Antiques

Jewelry & Gemstones

Lou DeFusco and Holly Luring

Tools & Hardware

Tools & Things/MBC Tools

Art Glass

Vine of Time

Toys and Trains

Das Bulli Haus

If you made it to any or all of the three shows this year, we hope you had a wonderful time and will be back next year! If you have never been to Brimfield, be sure to add it to your bucket and visit www.brimfield.com to start planning your trip! 

Be sure to follow along with us on Facebook and Instagram to get reminders of show dates, insider info, tips and tricks from experts, sneak peeks at dealer inventory and more! 

Kaitlin

P.S.

To all of our dealers, app users, family and friends, thanks for making this our best year ever and we'll see you back on the fields next year! And just for fun, here is a family shot of the four of us at the end of our first show (May 2014) and at the end of this show (May 2016). Our little #brimfieldbabies are growing up fast!

The Brimfield Flea Finder app was developed specifically for the Brimfield Antique Shows. The app is free to download in The App Store and Google Play. Visit www.brimfieldapp.com for more about the app and www.brimfield.com for general show information.