PRES stagers are brilliant in using trade shows as part of their marketing strategy! Trade shows are a great marketing strategy and while they do take time, money and energy the pay off can be huge IF you follow up! The best time for trade shows is in the spring and fall. There are industry specific trade shows with realtors and stagers and then the Home & Garden shows are a terrific way for PRES stagers to promote their business.

Earlier this year PRES stagers Deena Cottingham of Green Apple Staging and Janet Voth of Designing Spacez both servicing the Calgary area had a tremendous response with visitors to their booths.

PRES stagers on the West Coast have been active in a number of real estate trade shows and Sally Weatherley of Exit Stage Right was involved with the BC Real Estate Convention trade show held April 8th & 9th. She set up a fantastic looking booth and had a colleague Gita Wood help her out one morning.

Lois North of Lois Interiors attended the trade show and passed out her marketing materials such as her information packages and business cards. That’s a terrific strategy and one that is ‘FREE’. It involves your time and energy and is well worth it.

The key to any successful marketing strategy like a trade show is of course FOLLOW UP! PRES Stagers will have a draw for a ‘free’ staging consultation or perhaps a ‘free’ power stage or even as much as a ‘free home staging job’!

Sally Weatherley of Exit Stage Right bumped into fellow PRES member Irene Huva of Interior Deco at the Vancouver Urban Barn Red Sofa Event. Sally said she had the best time at Urban Barn and loves their new look. Urban Barn’s furniture style matches Exit Stage Right’s home staging style: Contemporary, comfortable, unpretentious, sophisticated, reasonably priced. This is a perfect look for the young urban target market buyer, particularly for condos.

After 20 years, the flagship furniture store has had a complete make over, and now has a clean, contemporary look. The store decided to reconfigure their furniture pieces in order to display them as if they were sitting in an actual room. Small vignettes are found all around the store, so that buyers can imagine how pieces of furniture would be displayed in their home. As a home stager Sally can relate!!!

To celebrate the re-opening of their new and improved store, Urban Barn literally rolled out the red carpet and invited the local design community. There was a real creative buzz as invitees commented favourably on the space and its contents. There was also a write up in the Vancouver Sun today regarding Urban Barn’s successful event.

As a Vancouver home stager and owner of Exit Stage Right, Sally has purchased many items at Urban Barn, usually accessories, artwork, lamps and side tables. She had been lusting after a particular coffee table for awhile now. It is made up of interesting overlapping circles, and is the perfect size for staging a condo. To her extreme delight, the furniture designer and General Merchandise Manager for Urban Barn, Sebastien Fauteux, was also in attendance. She had an interesting conversation with him, learning how he worked the cardboard mock-up for the coffee table, at the manufacturer in Thailand, before arriving at the delicious finished product.

Another highlight of the evening was listening the handsome, uber cool CEO and President of Urban Barn, Rick Bohonis. His message was that it’s time to change, but not change the product. It is just a question of making the product stand out more. Celebrity designer, Janette Ewan also discussed some of the green aspects of Urban Barn’s furniture, and also pointed out her favourite sofa, and mine, the elegant, Hollywood chic Moma sofa.

FRASER VALLEY REAL ESTATE TRADE SHOW

Mila Herenda of MIZO DESIGN SOLUTIONS coordinated a booth at the Fraser Valley Real Estate Trade Show held in early February with Nancy Glover of MIND YOUR MATTER. Other PRES members participating were Yvonne Swain of HINT OF ELEGANCE and Sally Weatherley of EXIT STAGE RIGHT.

They all had a great time collaborating for this event, and enjoyed meeting real estate professionals. It was interesting to learn that some realtors already had strong affiliations with staging companies, while others were just starting out and were just learning about staging. Some didn’t believe in staging, while others embraced our industry.

We were fortunate to have the support of READY, SET, SHOW of North Vancouver, who were very kind in supplying furniture rental at a generous discount. Yes, the rug you see is from 18 Karat and part of READY, SET, SHOW’s inventory.