269 | Over 150 Retail Markets in 3 Years with Danella Ruth McKinnon, McKinnon Collective
It’s not often that we hear from product makers and businesses that are selling 100% retail here on the podcast, but at McKinnon Collective, Danella Ruth McKinnon and her husband have done over 150 retail markets since 2019 and their experience in this space comes with so much value! In today’s episode, Danella is sharing why they don’t sell wholesale for their handmade leather bags and how she’s found success at retail markets, including her tips for standing out, merchandising, and inventory. Listen in as she highlights how they’ve also decided to incorporate an e-commerce store into their holiday sales with a limited time run over 4 days this November.
Today’s episode is brought to you by our Email Marketing For Product Makers guide which will help you map out a year’s worth of marketing emails in under an hour. If you’ve ever struggled with what to say or how many emails to send to either your wholesale or Direct to Consumer customers, then this tool is for you.
Making the Decision to Only Sell Direct to Consumer
Danella and her husband Adam quickly realized after starting their business, McKinnon Collective, that handmade leather goods had low profit margins, which limited them from being able to sell wholesale. Additionally, each of their products have unique features that you won’t find on any other bag—making wholesale harder to accommodate without uniform products. They decided pretty early on that they would focus on selling directly to consumers through retail markets and eventually online.
Since 2019, retail markets have been the primary way of selling, marketing, and connecting with their ideal customers, as they have sold their handmade leather goods at over 150 retail markets.
Standing Out at Retail Markets with Live Demonstrations
When setting up a retail booth at a market, it’s important to stand out from the other booths. One way that Adam and Danella do this is by offering live sewing demonstrations at each market. This includes placing Adam’s sewing table and machine front and center at their booth to showcase that he makes each and every piece by hand.
In offering this experience and demonstration, it shows the process of making the bags to the customers and offers them the opportunity to purchase the latest products being made. Customers are also able to know that their business offers exclusive, handmade products without them ever having to say it.
Having a live demonstration also pulls in a lot of new customers who are sparked with curiosity about the machine, but it also allows returning customers to easily find them, because they know to look for the sewing machine booth.
Additionally, it’s an inspiration to others that sewing and creativity can be a career.
Packing & Setup for Retail Markets
Planning and packing up inventory for a retail market is a lot of work, but with experience at over 150 markets, Danella and Adam have nailed down the process for McKinnon Collective. They pack up their 1990s Ford F-150 to the brim with their sewing machine, inventory, and more! The total time of setup on-site is just under an hour.
Merchandising at Retail Markets
In the market world and community, there are two types of setups that are commonly done, referred to as the Inner U and the Outer U. For outdoor markets, they focus on an Outer U set up, which essentially means that the booth is set up with products closest to the customers so they can peek into your booth without any pressure and you gauge if they want to have a conversation with you. For indoor markets, they create an Inner U booth, where customers can come into your booth and products are placed further into your booth—this does the opposite and creates more conversation with potential customers immediately.
When it comes to merchandising the actual booth, layers are so important. You can do this by building levels with shelves, crates, and more. This will help guide your customers in your booth, but also help you see what products are intriguing to them so you can better serve them with more recommendations.
What and How Much to Bring to The Markets
While every single brand is different, for McKinnon Collective, their product line is so vast with different colors and items, they tend to bring all of their inventory to the markets. The primary focus is their everyday items like crossbody bags and travel bags that they’ve become known for at markets. They’ll also bring specialty items during certain times of the year, like fanny packs and backpacks.
When you’re new to markets, bringing a little bit of everything to test it out is important! The key is to keep an eye on your top sellers and ensure you bring those!
Incorporating an E-Commerce Experience for Retail
After years of only offering sales at markets, this year Danella and Adam decided to launch a website with an e-commerce platform to offer online sales. In running both in-person market booths and the online retail store, they immediately ran into inventory issues. To avoid accidentally selling online inventory to an in-person customer, they decided to do specific runs and releases for the online shop. This means that the online shop isn’t always open, but rather they open the shop for a short 4-day run with the inventory they have available until it’s gone. If you want to be the first to get access to the online sale, make sure you’re on their email list.
Preparing for the Holidays
As product-based businesses, the holidays are a great time for sales, yet it can easily lead to burnout and overwhelm. Take the time to sit down with yourself, your business partner, your life partner, etc to look at the calendar and map out your timeline for preparation.
This will help you better understand how much time you need to create new inventory, prepare for booths, and get ready for the rush of the holiday sales.
If you are a LABS member, you can find the full recording in our resources and tools section within the community. And if you're not a LABS member yet, but you're looking for coaching educational resources and a community that was made for product based business owners, then head to the link below to learn more.
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MEET DANELLA
We are McKinnon Collective, a husband + wife small business duo owned by Adam + Danella Ruth McKinnon. We are a leather business that designs and creates for the everyday folk. Adam is the maker and designer, while I (Danella) handle the marketing and operations. All of our bags are named after friends and family as an homage to them for their endless support and love in our business journey. When we aren't running our own business, we do day-of coordination for one of the largest markets in the Bay Area + Sonoma County. Or you can find us snuggling with our 4 rescue cats!
CONNECT WITH DANELLA
WEBSITE: mckinnoncollective.com | INSTAGRAM: @mckinnoncollective | TIKTOK: @mckinnoncollective
Connect with Katie Hunt
Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.
Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct
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