VINTAGE SHOP HOP

8th Year, Now Semi-Annual!!

Fall Edition Event Dates:

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, October 1 & 2, 202`1

'Early Bird' Registration ($45): August1 @ 8:00am through August 10 @ 5:00pm

Regular Registration ($65): August 10 @ 5:01pm through September 22 @ 5:00pm

Participating shops MUST BE OPEN BOTH DAYS with SHOP HOURS of at least 10am to 5pm for the two-day event. Additional hours are encouraged! You can open earlier and close later, but shoppers ask every year for more hours to shop!!! If you cannot be open 10am to 5pm at the minimum, your registration will be refunded.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

...read these details BEFORE you register your shop...it's a lot of reading...but you NEED to understand how it works before you register. (This registration page is for participating shops only. The shoppers do NOT need to register at all). 

IMPORTANT: WHEN FILLING OUT YOUR REGISTRATION, DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS USING YOUR 'AUTO-FILL' FEATURE/OR CUT & PASTE, nor LEAVE MANDATORY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED...doing so will cause issues with CHECK OUT AT THE END, resulting in starting over.

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COVID-19 CONDITIONS & REFUNDS

As of this summer, restrictions were lifted regarding mask mandates of Illinois and Wisconsin. If COVID restrictions are put in place again, please be responsible and adhere to the mandates.

REFUNDS: If either state or federal government regulations take a turn for the worse and mandate the closure of "non-essential" businesses that results in us needing to cancel the event, your shop will receive a full refund. If your local city or county mandates you close your business, but not the entire state, resulting in your shop backing out of the event, you will receive a refund less the service & processing fee we are charged by Eventbrite. The $45 Early Bird fee would be refunded at $40.70 and the $65 Regular fee would be refunded at $59.50.

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WHAT IS THE VINTAGE SHOP HOP?

This event is best described as a "road trip on steroids"--specifically designed for vintage-related brick & mortar shops, barn sales, antique malls, ladies boutiques, upscale consignment stores in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin to attract new customers! We debuted eight years ago and found great success with both the participating shops and the shoppers. Typically we have between 350 and 400+ shops participate in any given year. The two-day shopping event is intended to bring new customers into your store from your own town as well as encourage "road- trippers" from outside your area to visit.

This event is a bit different than most in that it is marketed strictly through social media! It's promoted to the public as a "self-guided road trip" within the Northern Illinois & Southern Wisconsin region and marketed totally through Facebook and Instagram via the event fan page along with purchased Facebook advertising and boosted posts. The shoppers are provided an online Master List of Shops and a coordinating interactive Google Map showing all shop locations with details. Both the list and map are used year-round as a road-tripping tool by shoppers. Both are kept up on the Vintage Shop Hop website 24/7 for 6 months until the next event replaces it.

DOES YOUR SHOP QUALIFY?

It's easy to participate but you must agree to the five Eligibility Factors below... 

ELIGIBILITY FACTOR #1 - Business Type

All businesses must be locally owned and for-profit. Eligible business types are: 

• Vintage or Antique = vintage shop or antique mall (75% or more of inventory must be vintage or antique. Anything less than 75% is considered to be Home Decor category)
• Home Decor / Non-Vintage = less than 75% of inventory is vintage/antique; or inventory is all new retail home decor; or a mix. We do NOT allow craft stores, floral shops, or single item shops (i.e. soaps only, books only, jewelry only, candles only, CBD shops, season/spice shop, wine shop, etc.)
• Ladies Boutique / New = 100% of inventory is NEW clothing or accessory lines (no second-hand, thrift, or consignment in your inventory).
• Upscale Consignment & Used = second hand or gently used upscale clothing or home decor, sold as consignment or not (non-profit agency-run shops are not allowed, i.e. hospital thrift shops, St. Vincent de Paul, Goodwill, etc.)
• Vintage Event = barn sale, flea market, pop-up vintage shop, seasonal vintage. At least 50% of the total inventory at the event MUST BE VINTAGE. All events MUST be physically located on property that is zoned AG or Commercial. NO garage sales or residential neighborhood sales. If your event collects an admission fee you MUST contact me first for permission to participate.

The event mainly focuses on giving shoppers a VINTAGE shopping experience. I market to those who like to shop for vintage decor and goods.  In order to stay true to the original intent of the event, which is to promote vintage shopping.

The following types of businesses DO NOT QUALIFY:

• thrift or second-hand stores, unless there is dedicated vintage inventory area inside the store at all times of operation, year 'round
• non-profit agency-run shops such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, and St. Vincent de Paul or other thrift, library book sales, hospital run thrift and/or community stores
• craft stores
• florists
• art galleries
• single item focused stores (such as candles only, jewelry only, soaps & lotions only, make-up/salon, seasonings/spice shop, wine shop, gourmet food shop)
• new furniture retail stores, even if locally owned
• jewelry stores, unless you offer a dedicated vintage & estate jewelry section
• museum or attraction gift shops
• "store closings" or closeout/liquidations, etc. (even if you qualify above)
• book stores, unless you have a dedicated vintage or antique book section with pre-1970 books
• flea markets with no "on-trend" vintage (i.e. inventory of hot wheels, tools, old stock, pots n pans, coins, DVDs, sports memorabilia, action figures, and such)
• box stores or national franchise stores
• restaurants, cafes or other on-the-go food businesses
• lodging facilities
• any business that does not fit the above-mentioned eligibility factors

if you're questioning your business type, contact me first before registering for approval.

ELIGIBILITY FACTOR #2 - Active Facebook business page

There's no wiggle room with this rule. You MUST operate an ACTIVE and current BUSINESS Facebook and/or IG page. Personal pages don't count--it MUST be set up as a business page. How do we define an ACTIVE page?

ACTIVE = weekly posts or more often

Your page MUST be posted on at least WEEKLY and include photos in your posts. ACTIVE does not just mean you have a page--it means you post regularly. The event is structured to work with all participants marketing it on their respective social media pages.  I check every Facebook page, so if I find that your page is not active or current, your registration fee will automatically be refunded and you will not be allowed to participate. 

If you are a brand NEW shop with a new page, we understand that your page is growing and encourage all new shop owners to take part in the event. In fact, it's a perfect way to market yourself and build your page. 

ELIGIBILITY FACTOR #3 - Agree to promote the event on your page

As stated above, the event works when each participant commits to getting involved. You have a stake in it, and when you register you agree to promote the event on your business page--meaning you're agreeing to post the official event flyer or your own flyer on your Facebook business page several times prior to the event...including daily posts the week before the event. You shouldn't go into it thinking that my promotions will fill your store with shoppers without you putting forth any marketing effort to your current customer base. Encourage them to visit your shop that morning as the first stop on their road trip! You'll be offering specials they can't get any other time of the year. Work it--and you will succeed. I provide all the marketing materials for you to use on the website...bag stuffers, window signs, Facebook artwork, logos, media alert, etc.

ELIGIBILITY FACTOR #4 - Agree to host an in-store promotion

You agree to "roll out the red carpet" for customers by creating an "in-store" promotion for the event weekend. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish. During the past six years, shops have done everything from special shop pricing and discounts, to product demonstrations, punch card* promotions, "meet the dealers", wine/cheese parties, live music and parking lot sales...and everything in between. You can find ideas of what other shops do by browsing the 'Shop Owner' tab on our website. You must be open both days from at least 10am to 5pm. Of course earlier and later hours are encouraged.  PLEASE know the details of your promotion BEFORE filling out the registration. You will be including the details which get uploaded to the Interactive Google Map for shoppers to see. Don't leave it blank--give specifics to encourage the shoppers to visit your shop.

NOTE: *Punch Card & Town-Wide Requirements: If you plan to run a Punch Card promotion or town-wide event where multiple shops are taking part, you must be sure that: 1) EVERY shop in the promotion MUST QUALIFY and REGISTER HERE on their own before you begin promoting their participation; 2) you MUST have a list of the shops that are in the promotion, either printed on the punch card itself, or a separate list...and that list must be provided and communicated to your shoppers when on your premises.

ELIGIBILITY FACTOR #5 - EVENT BOUNDARIES & HOURS - Be within the event's geographic boundary of northern Illinois & southern Wisconsin. Basically the boundaries are listed below. Actual boundaries can be seen on the maps at the bottom of this page.

ILLINOIS - from the Stateline on the north, I-80 on the south, Mississippi River on the west and Lake Michigan/Indiana border on the east. We do NOT cover Chicago city proper, but we do cover all of the suburbs. (see map below)

WISCONSIN - from the Stateline on the south, to Stevens Point and Green Bay/Door County on the north, Mississippi River on the west and Lake Michigan on the east. (see map below)

The borders fluctuate a bit each year depending on which shops want to participate. The event has definitely grown over the past few years, but we try to maintain those general boundaries to keep it manageable on our end. If you are just outside the area, contact me directly so we can discuss it.

HOURS & DAYS: In order to keep the integrity of the event as marketed with shoppers, all participating shops MUST be open BOTH Friday and Saturday, October 1 & 2 from at least 10am to 5pm. You of course can open earlier and stay open later, but the minimum is from 10am to 5pm. If you plan to start your in-store promotion outside of the two offical event days please make note of that in your 'Shop Description' when you register. If your registration is submitted with an opening time later than 10am or an earlier closing time than 5pm, we will refund your registration.

 REGISTRATION DEADLINES & FEE:

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION August 1 @ 8:00am through August 10 @ 5:00pm = $45 per shop location

REGULAR REGISTRATION  August 10 @ 5:01pm through September 22 @ 5:00pm = $65 per shop location

Registration ends on September 22, 2021 at 5:00pm - NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

If you have more than one location, each shop location MUST register separately in order to receive a separate listing within the official Master List of Shops and be listed individually on the Google Map. Only businesses that register and pay the fee will be mentioned by name. If you are planning a "multi-shop" promotion, for instance, a Punch Card with 10 shops taking part, ALL 10 shops MUST qualify by the rules mentioned above and officially register for the shop hop individually. 

WHAT DO PARTICIPATING SHOPS RECEIVE?

1) GOOGLE MAP, 24/7: Each participant will be on the official Vintage Shop Hop interactive Google Map indicating exactly where you are geographically located with your shop's full info, and detail of your "in-store" promotion, all viewable by mouse-over or a tap of the screen. The map can be viewed on any smartphone, tablet or mobile device as the shoppers are road-tripping over the two days. Once it's opened within Google Maps, it resides on their device until they delete it. The 2021 spring version of the Google Map has been accessed over 197,000 times since the event was held. Each event map has a shelf life of 6 months and is replaced when the following event map begins.

2) MASTER LIST OF SHOPS, 24/7: Each shop will be listed by state on the Master List of Shops. This list is sorted using the Mini-Regions (see maps below). The list and map are posted to the Facebook page every few days. Both are also housed on the website and remain there year-round for shoppers to use whenever they want, 24/7. Each event list of shops has a shelf life of 6 months and is replaced when the following event list begins.

3) FACEBOOK ADVERTISING: Several weeks out leading up to the event, I will purchase Facebook & Instagram advertising to promote the page to both current and potentially new followers. The Vintage Shop Hop official Facebook page has 40,300+ followers. 

I will also promote the event daily on my Nellie's Barn Sale Facebook page which has 24,000+ followers. With each of the 400+ participating shops promoting the event on their respective Facebook pages, you can see that the audience grows with each shop that signs on! Last year the participating shops facebook pages added up to an audience of over 200,000+ followers combined! 

4) GENERAL PUBLICITY & MEDIA COVERAGE: Every shop will benefit from general publicity through any coverage the local media provides. Press releases are sent to regional media. Local chambers of commerce and tourism agencies are contacted with the event information to encourage their promotion through their own websites and social media outlets. Please feel free to contact your own local chamber, tourism office or media. I am only one person and probably don't know your local media personally. It's always good for you to make that connection from a local standpoint. I can send you the Media Release for this purpose or you can find it on the website as well. 

5) MARKETING MATERIALS: We provide official artwork for all shops to use for promotions in your store. The website is where to go for the official artwork, logos, and ideas. You'll find artwork for bag stuffers, signs for your door and cash register area, and logos for t-shirts or bags. NOTE: The Vintage Shop Hop name and logo are being trademarked and is NOT to be changed, cut apart or re-designed in any way. Please contact me BEFORE you order any t-shirts, bags or other promotional items.

The website can be found HERE.

REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT

AFTER reading the mini-region info below, go back to the top of this page and click on the REGISTER button. Be sure you've read the ELIGIBILITY FACTORS above AND you know the details of your "in-store" promotion before you begin as there is a time-out feature built into the registration process.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS USING 'AUTO-FILL' FEATURE OR CUT & PASTE. AND, DO NOT LEAVE MANDATORY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED...OR YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO CHECK OUT AT THE END.

Questions? Contact me via Messenger on the Facebook page HERE.

Below are the Wisconsin and Illinois Mini-Region Maps...these maps are NOT distributed to the shoppers but are used during my preparation and creation of the Master List of Shops, which is SORTED by these Mini-Regions. The Google Map will be color-coded by the five business types.

Please take a look at the map for your area and make note of the Mini-Region # you are located in...you will use this same # you fill in on the 'Registration Form'. If your shop falls outside these boundaries, please contact me on the Facebook page first to see about participating.

Now, scroll back to the top and CLICK on the REGISTER button. Remember, you need to know the details of your "in-store" promotion before you complete the form.