Lindsey Stone, co-owner of Clean Getaway Soap, looks forward to the Horseshoe Market as an opportunity to create a unique experience for her customers. Instead of viewing the operation of a booth at an outdoor fair as a “limited palette”, Lindsey and her husband put their creative talents to work to make their exhibit a stage for their products.
Starting five years ago, Clean Getaway Soap provided the Stones with an opportunity to meet with anyone, anywhere. Since that time, the company has exhibited its soap products everywhere and the Stones have met lots of people and created lots of customers. Products include homemade scrubbing, shaving, lathering and liquid soaps made with natural and organic plant oils mixed with sodium hydroxide to create a glycerin rich moisturizing bar soap.
The Stones seek to build a “successful presence” where they interact with their customers in something “akin to a fun house”, “not a point of sale display”. Stepping into the Clean Getaway Soaps exhibit is intended to be enjoyable so that the customer takes something away other than the purchase of a product.
“Everything in our exhibit is intentional, said Lindsey Stone. “From a table cloth to our costumes, our goal is to take you away from the fact that you are in a parking lot and transport you to an adventure somewhere else. A tent should not be four white walls and a top, but a backdrop for an experience.” The company has used themes from the Wizard of Oz to Wild Bill’s Wild West Show. “An opportunity to exhibit outdoors is an inspiration to take my ideas and present them as a real display”.
She is particularly pleased when another exhibitor will take one of their ideas and put it to work from their own perspective. To see her work redone, translated by a member of the community in their own exhibit, is a source of pride.
Like all veteran exhibitors, every show is a work in progress. Immediately after the show, Lindsey and her husband will review how everything worked and plan improvements for the next viewing of their stage production.
The next Horseshoe Market will be on May 11th at Olinger Moore Howard Parking Lot, 4345 West 46th Avenue, Denver, CO 80212.
First published in the Denver Examiner – Entrepreneur on April 16, 2013
Reprinted with permission.
