FAQ

You have questions, we have answers.

Our store is always looking for unique new business owners to open their own shops and grow their business! We love to see trendy home décor, custom made pieces, a wide variety of furniture, boutique clothing for all ages, delicious treats and snacks, gifts and accessories. Bluebelle’s promise to our customers is to provide amazing shopping experience that covers all the bases. We have an approval process in place to help us achieve this goal.

Apply today to open your own shop!

Being a part of Bluebelle is an opportunity to grow your business and create a brand. It gives you the space to become a part of your community and increase your customer base. Your merchandise and your booth space should all be a reflection of your brand. Cohesive design, labeling, and aesthetics will be your best friends when it comes to making the biggest impact in the store. This also includes your social media platforms. Utilizing these platforms will be key in bridging the gaps between the customer, you, and your merchandise. We work hard to include your social media in all of our advertising on the store’s social media platforms. Checking all the right boxes will grow your business. We have had several vendors grow into having their very own brick and mortar store, and even one who had their art become a part of Kirklands across the nation!

 

Take advantage of the outdoor markets we have through the year, as well as others in town. This is where you get to meet your customer face to face and bring your business to a personal level in the community. The other vendors as well as Facebook groups are a great resource to find the ones that will be the most successful for you. The second and very important way to succeed is to ALWAYS strive to be better at what you do. Pay attention to detail, provide excellent customer service, focus on making your business new and exciting regularly, make what is happening in your booth new and exciting regularly, and always focus on you and your business NOT your competition. Brick and Mortar retail can be fun and very lucrative, especially when paired with the ease of the internet. The third way is to PARTICIPATE in all the opportunities we give you as well as your booth. A well-maintained space and well thought out branding will do wonders for a business. We can help you with setting your booth up or running through ideas you have for your business. There is also an invaluable resource within all the other vendors in the store. They are a treasure trove of information, inspiration, and help!

 

At Bluebelle we issue a 3 month minimum contract to begin with.  This is way below the minimum amount one would need to actually get a good start and gain traction in the retail world. But we also have to be mindful that long contracts can be hard in a military town. Up front we charge a deposit along with the first months rent in order to make the space yours.  This action removes it from our list of available spaces and gives you a specific move in date.  This 3 month start time is average for this type of store.  After the initial three months, your contract will run month to month.  We have spaces that range from a $55 shelf area to a $400 full size booth.  The size you will need depends on your specific merchandise.  We are always available during store hours for a tour of the sizes, and we would love to meet you! After rent, there is an 10% commission from your monthly sales.  This fee is used to help cover costs such as advertising, outdoor market expenses, credit card processing fees, and our point of sale system fees.  Those two amounts are deducted from your sales each month and we issue you a check for the remainder. There could be other costs incurred that will vary from vendor to vendor such as; booth décor, remodeling, and general business expenses. This will depend on what you do with your space as it is yours to decorate as you please. 

 

Yes! We do require that they are paid for at the store when possible if you are using us as a pick up location. We realize this may not always be realistic especially in the case of large custom items that require a deposit. We just ask that you are reasonable with it. Storing pick-ups, providing customer service, and being a middle man is taxing on us as a business and is something we cannot spend large amounts of time doing without compensation.

 

 

Yes! We have a small handful of booth owners who have sub-let smaller spaces in their booth to other vendors. They each have their own rules and way of doing things so it would be up to you to do your research on who would be the best fit for you and your merchandise. You can also do this yourself if you choose when we have the available space for it. Too many small spaces work against the store as a whole as well as the vendors so we only allow a certain amount of it at a time. Prices and any rules will depend on the booth owner. Anyone who rents a small space within a booth will be charged a $5 fee by Bluebelle as well as the 10% sales commission. Any rent on top of that to the booth owner will be between you and the booth owner.

 

 

We have a few restrictions laid out in our contract about what you CANNOT sell. These items will be things such as used clothes/shoes/toys, thrift items, and yard sale items. We do our best to maintain a certain level of quality in the store overall and these types of items can bring other vendors sales down. We also have restrictions on items that are already being sold in the store. We can only have a certain amount of jewelry makers, boutique clothing, and other easily repeated items in the store at any one time. This will also include vendors currently in the store wishing to add something to their stock or change merchandise in their booth. Just ask any one of the employees before making a change such as this or before moving into your space for clarification.