9th Annual
Save The Date:
DESTASH 2024
SUNDAY, MARCH 3
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Vendors Please Note:
Due to the number of applications we receive
WE NO LONGER SEND EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS FOR VENDORS TO APPLY
Please watch our social media channels on Instagram and Facebook
Or check back, right here,
***THE FIRST WEEK IN JANUARY ***
for the official call for makers.
APPLICATIONS ARE ONLY OPEN FOR TWO WEEKS
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Please understand that Destash
is a different type of maker market
that has different expectations
and a couple of rules.
First, what is the MKE DESTASH Event? DESTASH started in 2016, as a humble, grass roots event, with about a dozen of us and our baby handmade businesses, looking to sell off our imperfect handmade items and supplies in order to support fresh new projects and aspirations for the new year. It also served as our annual Customer Appreciation Party! Tactile Craftworks brought fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, Cival brought the "potion" for the Bloody Mary bar, SilverWear by Misty brought the vodka, Big White Yeti brought the candles of course, I still have Zewing Girl's chip bowl (sorry!), everybody brought something and it was hosted at the Permanent Baggage studio/boutique. The brick & mortar is now closed but used to be located on Hamilton Street, a couple blocks north of Brady Street.
The event has continued to grow over the years with makers of all types coming together for a day of destashing our imperfect art and supplies, to nurture comradery among small businesses owners and to most genuinely thank our community for their support. Makers of all levels are encouraged to apply however we do give preference to those who are supporting themselves through the sale of their work either part or full-time.
**Note that "destashing" is different than just putting a sale on your normal handmade goods-that is a NO-NO, save those pieces for your shops or in person shows where you can get full price! The Destash event should be used as a TOOL to sell off -UNWANTED ITEMS- EVERYTHING IN YOUR BOOTH MUST BE DISCOUNTED, if not DEEPLY. This is what is advertised to our patrons and what is expected.
At Destash, you can sell off your slightly flawed or imperfect items, your out of season items, your experiments/prototypes, pieces you've become bored with, old branding, items nearing expiration (within 3 months), AND your EXCESS SUPPLIES. In the past some makers have created a product from their scrap that they only sell during Destash at this awesome price and put together surprise goodie bags.
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About our Venue: The House of RAD MKE - is an artist collective space located in the Riverworks district of Milwaukee, WI. They recently expanded to include an adjacent, large, open, industrial event space. Destash will take place in BOTH the House Of Rad and the event space.
HOW IT WORKS:
*Participants are required to have a social media presence on Instagram. We do advertise through Facebook, however, all post sharing is initiated from Instagram, so if you want your posts to be shared, an Instagram account is required.
The MKE Destash Event pages on Instagram and Facebook will serve as the central hubs for advertising the event where ALL participants work COLLECTIVELY to post their Destash offerings the weeks leading up to the event. I, Kamryn, your event coordinator (hi!) will be working in the background shuffling around and reposting everyone's deals and announcements.
*Each participant is required to post a minimum of 3 posts (static post, story or reel-your choice). We suggest something like the timeline below - though most vendors post much more by sprinkling their deals into their stories.
Post 1.) I'm participating in Destash! Post to Instagram soon after acceptance, so your patrons can get it on their calendar. You will be provided the event banner to make it easy.
Post 2.) These are my deals! *Each Participant is strongly encouraged to submit a Directory Listing, which is basically a post to your own feed, that leads with your logo and follows with the deals you'l be offering. That post will be shared to the Destash Instagram feed where it collectively becomes a juicy detailed roster for the event, where patrons can easily scroll all your deals and connect with your business. A paid advertisement is put behind each Directory Listing. Larger paid advertisements are created from as many peoples' posts as I can fit in them. We ask that Directory listings be completed within 2-3 weeks of acceptance to the event so they can be listed to the roster in time.
Also, if you'd like to, many vendors sprinkle their deals to their stories, from which the Destash event, will share to our stories. *Note that posts to your static feed are not as easy to share as stories and are less likely to be re-posted.
Post 3.) See you soon for all the fun! Post this some time the week before the event reminding people to attend.
*Everyone fulfills their 3 posts, no matter how big or small their business. Those that don't work together to post, won't be allotted space for future events.
***Then, best of all, we come together on event day to throw our community a big a$$ thank you party and DESTASH!!!