On January 10, 2009, the Sacramento Potters Group had its Annual Second Sale for the first time
at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center in McKinley Park in Sacramento, California. 
It was a HIT!!!  Click on any picture to view a larger image.

 

SPG SECONDS SALE
Bill Creitz

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Six Oíclock† Saturday morning in Oakland.† I took a right turn out of† Lynde street on my way to W580.
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On my left I saw and carefully avoided the notorious Coolige St. destroyer pothole, and was soon on to Sacramento for the Sacramento Seconds Sale. My friend Kate, acting navigator, with mapquest in hand, was along for the journey.
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We arrived promptly at 7:45am, secured a space and began bringing in boxes---this was a new space for me in a beautiful building in a large well-tended park. People were jogging in the sun (it turned out to be a gorgeous day!) some with their dogs.† I liked that being a dog person myself.
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As I brought in the work and began setting up, a line of customers was forming outside. At 4:30 am that morning in Carmical, baby Collin had awakened his parents, Matt and Jessie, 10-year vets of the sale. They decided to stay up, drive to the sale and get in line. They arrived at 8:11 for the 10 oíclock opening. Three minutes later Jennifer from Roseville and her friend Janelle from Placerville, a 6 year vet, were next in line. By 9:30 the line had grown to at least 40 and the excitement was building.† I made a quick trip to the nearby Starbucks for two small lattes with and extra shot.
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When I got back in those moments of calm before the storm, my neighbor Dianne Ban de Car reflected on her first seconds sale fifteen years ago, ìI loaded up my Mazda 626 with a back-stock of earrings and sold them for two dollars a pair.î† She still had a jar in her studio with some of those mint green and orange earrings she keeps as a reminder.
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TEN OíCLOCK----ìIs Everybody ready?!, Anita asked. And then it began with a hubbub of packing and making change. After what seemed like hours, Kate looked at me and said, ìDo you know how much time has passed? An hour and a half she answered. Wow, it seemed like at least four busy hours to me.† Suddenly a crash, silence, then a collective ìohhhî.† Itís o.k., only broken pottery----life goes on!
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Things slowed down a bit and I talked to ìBeeî, at 86 the oldest member in the association. ìI sold my big dragon and a lot of other stuff and am having a great time!î she said. I went back to my spot, checked on Kate who suggested I make another quick trip to Starbucks for a couple more lattes.
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At Starbucks my cell went off. It was a lady who had forgotten a low bowl and was driving back to the sale to pick it up. ìWould you still be there?î she asked. ìYes,î I said. I was soon back and sat down to drink my coffee in the midst of the activity.† She arrived. ìPick out a couple of mugs on meî, I said.† She was happy.
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My inventory was dwindling as the sales were still going on. Then, CRASHÖ.another broken pot somewhere in the midst of the sale. OhhhÖand then it was 2 oíclockÖ.another unforgettable seconds sale. And most of all, a big thank you to the members of the Board for their gift of time and energy in putting on a successful sale!
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The 2009 Seconds Sale
by Laurie Kneppel

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Saturday morning came extra early on January 10th. Usually a time for sleeping in and getting ready for a day spent working in the yard and running errands, this day was different. It was Seconds Sale day! All year long I had been saving my glaze experiments, hairline cracked, warped and just plain oddball clay creations in their own special boxes, just waiting for this day. Glazes that didnít make the cut for me are always popular with buyers. I think itís because I knew what I had expected to see from these glaze and clay combinations and they didnít. They were not awful colors, just not what I meant to ìsayî. The pots were fine, and I suppose thatís what really mattered. That and the super low prices, of course.
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This year was going to be different. For one thing we had relocated the show to the Shepard Garden and Arts Center where we are now a member club, and even though we had gotten the word out as much as humanly possible, we still didnít know for sure what the turnout would be like. Itís a larger venue, which allowed us to expand beyond the usual 22 participants. We had a total of 31 signed up! There were lots of new faces and even more variety of art for sale.† The dismal economy had dropped retail sales nationwide and many potters had reported lower turnouts at their studio sales this past year, so we were a little worried ñ would the people still come? My fears about a low buyer turnout were soon put to rest when I discovered that we had our first person in line by 8 AM. A regular Seconds Sale customer, too! Soon the ladies with their thermos bottles and lawn chairs showed up. More regular customers! They had followed us to the new venue! Yay! By the time the doors opened for business at 10 AM we had over 120 people lined up from the door, across the parking lot, and to the sidewalk. The first 45 minutes were just like a normal year, lots of selling and wrapping. It was glorious!
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As far as I could see, it looked like everyone was having brisk sales. I hope that everyone who participated did well. I think the space was set up quite nicely, using both the big and small rooms. Thanks to Mary, Anita and Connie for overseeing that on Friday. And of course as always thanks to Mabel Lotz from the City of Sacramento for helping everything go smoothly. And of course thanks to Genelle Dwyer for coming in to hand out postcards for the June show and act as our ìgreeterî at the door.
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The only thing I think we might want to change is having vendor tables so near the doorway between the two rooms. Even though they were the right distance apart for people to pass through, whenever someone was bent down to examine a potential purchase, I kept noticing that the people behind them were reluctant to try to squeeze past them. Maybe they were worried that they would brush up against something and knock it to the floor. The gap was fine for people who were moving, but once someone stopped in the doorway, almost all the traffic flow between rooms stopped, too. This was especially noticeable during the initial morning rush. It was fine later, when we had less people jostling for position. But as we all know that initial rush is usually when we make the most sales. The space probably needs to be the width of two people bending down in opposite directions at the same time. A lesson in traffic flow, thatís for sure! Of course, next year, returning customers will also know that they can get to the small room by using the corridor that goes past Mabelís office to get to the small roomís other entrance. But if that were all I could see that needed tweaking from my vantage point, then I would say we did a VERY good job for this first Seconds Sale in the new venue! We had plenty of customers and sold plenty of stuff. What more could we ask for? I know ñ even more customers and even more sales!
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