In competitive markets like this, there is an almost magnetic pull to the status quo. The less successful look to their more successful peers and try to be more like them. Artists start to emulate other artists. Jewelers emulate other Jewelers. Moustachemakers emulate other moustachemakers. The differences between booth owners becomes more and more minuscule as people start to forgo their own point of view in favor of someone else’s. Maybe it’s a successful strategy, if success is just measured in dollars. But it can’t be fulfilling to try to be like someone else. The vendors that really stand out at these shows are the ones who have found their own point of view, and have built it into everything they do. They don’t have a hodgepodge of designs, they have a focus. Those are the ones you remember among the hundreds you saw.
