Aika Felt Works, Mieland, and MAARI have exhibited in Frankfurt Ambiente fair in 12.-16.2.2010 under the name of Arctic Pears, at the joint stand of Finnish Design.Three of us are all small companies from Lapland, and this was the first time to exhibit in the international fair. We shared the small stand together, so our space was probably the smallest in this hall, but being small wasn't a problem. We've got a lot of attention and contacts!
Aika Felt Works showed mostly industrial felt products. Many people asked pointing at Osampo bag, "What is that?". I realised that people don't recognise it's a bag!! It's good to get straight feedback sometimes;))Many of Japanese buyers were interested in Osampo bag. Folding bag, Slippers were very popular among European buyers. I must follow up with the contacts now.. Thank you very, very much for visiting us!!
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I was quite nervous before the fair, when I arrived at the Frankfurt airport, and was terrified to see the huge fair buildings, then wanted to go home immediately when I stepped in our exhibition hall, because all other stands looked so nice!! I couldn't believe that I was going to exhibit my products there.
But this time, I wasn't alone. I had reliable Finnish fellows, ladies of other 2 companies, construction men, a leader of the Finnish stand... we helped each other and everybody spoke Finnish there in Germany, which made me so relaxed.
I have learnt a lot of important things from exhibitors. Normally I work alone, and I don't see almost anybody in my craft business. I was hungry to talk about our businesses, about money, production process, financial supports, etc. Now I've got cooperators, and I can plan my future activities more clearly. This was another big thing there. I want to say big thanks to Maarit, Marjo, Jonna, and Jaana! Kiitos paljon!!
