Market Research

Now that I feel like I am getting closer and closer to actually selling these pillows, I figured that I should do a little bit of research on the subject.  Kevin, did quite a bit of work on it prior to announcing my pillow plan to me!  He looked up pricing on Etsy, checked out hand made competitors, researched blogging, ect.  But, we hadn't really spent much time actually looking, really looking at throw pillow, aside from the few that are hanging around our house.

Arts, Beats, and Eats!  Lots of hot weather,
but no pillows (that I saw!)

First stop this weekend, was Arts, Beats, and Eats.  Our primary reason for going, according to our two little ones, was to ride the ferris wheel and meet Super Why and Clifford.  And certain two year old actually believes her name to be Super Why.  Anyway, we had a few important priorities to accomplish.  As we were walking around we of course checked out some of the art.  People were selling paintings, photography, jewelry, dresses, scarves, metal and wood art, but we did not see any pillows.  Now, that is not to say we missed them.  It was in the 90's and humid, a bit too hot for us but we did not see a pillow!  Hmm...it costs $1,500 to rent a booth for the weekend.  One would have to sell an awful lot of pillows!  Maybe it is just not cost effective.


Next on our whirlwind weekend of fun was a trip to IKEA, a family favorite.  We are not obsessed with IKEA to the extreme that our house is starting to look like a catalog but we do pick up a few things here and there.  Lamps, organization supplies, a couple bookshelves, things like that.  Besides selling a lot of meatballs, they all sell a lot of throw pillows.  Some are made from your basic cotton, which is generally what I have been working with.  They are completely stitched and can be thrown in the washer - simple, easy.  Others were pillow covers with either zippers or button holes.  The pillows covers were made with lighter and heavier fabrics and anywhere in between.  It was interesting just to get some ideas.  IKEA also sells some nice fabrics with interesting designs.  If I work my way up to curtains, I may have to make another trip.  We of course had to get meatballs, that is everyone except for Mimi, who feasted on tube noodles with parmesan cheese.  It just seemed logical to spend a really hot day checking out pillows and eating meatballs.  And in case you were wondering, yes, Kevin brought the camera.

Pillows!

Pillows

And more pillows!

No, she does not eat meatballs!
No, she did not put sauce on those noodles!

I have also casually checked out pillows at Target and Pottery Barn the past couple weeks.  One of the things I have noticed is that quite often the patterns don't match up.  This is something that always annoyed my mom.  Now that I am learning it annoys me too!  I am trying to learn to match up patterns and I am hoping that I will be able to do it regularly.  It seems that it might be one way to differentiate between homemade and mass produced pillows.  It is worth a try!

Other new things on the horizon for 715 Pillows.  I started a Facebook page to promote my blog and possible future business.  From this post on, I am going to limit how often I post about 715 Pillows on my personal Facebook page.  Although, I will give people a friendly reminder from time to time.  I am going to post fabric pictures, project pictures, and staff photos.  I may even go so far as to host a few contests for loyal followers.  As always, I love all your ideas, comments, and suggestions.  Keep them coming!