What I do in my spare time...

We run a store. When we came, it was very empty, except for some gourmet kitchen stuff which a local store owner put in it. This stuff didn't sell very well, and so we had the opportunity to fill the store with souvenirs and stuff! Some friends of ours who have a lot of experience in retail helped us set things up, learn how to order, get the display equipment, etc. So... I've had a lot of fun ordering from catalogs, going to buyers markets, setting merchandise, pricing, etc. It's been interesting to see how this end of retail works. For instance, did you know what Net30 means? It means a store has qualified for "terms" of paying for merchandise within thirty days of receipt of goods. This gives the store a chance to make some money before paying bills. But you have to establish lines of credit with other vendors before you can qualify for terms.
"Made in Montana" is quite a big deal here. There are special little stickers that vendors put on their products that are made in this state. I don't think we had anything like that in Idaho. Probably because our sticker would be a potato, and who wants to buy something with a potato on it? Maybe if it were scratch and sniff? Maybe not. I digress... So a big display in the store is all made in Montana stuff, such as candles, lip balms, jewelry, metal art, etc. It is neat to find people who make really cool stuff! There are some talented Montanans out there, and I hope their wares sell in our store. So far, so good.
At my first buyers market, I was pretty clueless and didn't realize how hard it would be to get away from vendors who want to sell you things...but then I developed a little thicker skin for my next one and knew by that point what we needed in the store (though Cory teases me for buying some kind of weird stuff, like those little doggie figurines-- well it's for the KOA camping dog lovers, of which I might say there are a plenty.. But those little plastic visors.. well, I don't know who will buy those. I must have been up in the night on that one).
It took me months to get up the courage to spend thousands of dollars that weren't my own, but when I found out how much fun it is to put it all up, I couldn't stop ordering! (until my budget ran out...)