If you did – Thank you for visiting Mel & I. We definitely took many of your comments on board. You’ve asked for an “extended sale” and we’ve quite literally only got back after packing up and decompressing – Its been a massive week! We’re in full swing answering your emails so without further ado… here’s what we learnt.
NEW COLOURS FROM COLORBOND®
From the Colorbond® Team – We’ve got the opportunity to release four (technically five) new colours. Watching Ali Fenton read through the benefits and swatch families – We can assist customers just like your a touch better moving forward by segmenting our Colorbond Swatches up to accommodate how Pales, Mids, Greens, and Deep colours provide their own family of products from the Colorbond Colour Range.
Wollemi looks to be Fencing only at this stage. We’ll consider it based on popularity.
We’ve already asked Dulux when these colours might be created – we’re looking at October before we can release this to the our customers.
WE've got friends!
Being part of the #AustralianMade movement within The Melbourne Home Show gave us some insights into who actually uses the logo (and who doesn’t – another story Thanks Michael!) and those that are local to us.
Two Companies that we can recommend to you: OzTables + Blinds Online (didn’t exhibit, considering). Both companies are located in South East Melbourne Suburbs, local to Barn Light. The Christian & his Team from Oztables manufacture hand-made tables that look impressive enough on their own right, even if you do see someone walking around in circles sanding off small burrs the hour before the Home Show Opened :D
After a bit of networking, we might see Blinds Online exhibit at a future HomeShow. OzTables had their first homeshow, and from what I could see from our stand they were quite popular! Our “outdoor” and indoor stand was almost mirrored directly in-front of us. The unfortunate by-product of having a few custom made chairs left a few attendees “testing out the chairs” for extended durations much to our amusement!
BUILDING THE BOOTH
Its our second run at rebuilding our booth made from timber, MDF, Alucapanel, Vinyl, and blood sacrifices from yours truly (wiring things up!) – We’ve considered a number of ways to make it easier to “plug and play” as wiring up over 30 lights in the space of a few hours is a skill most electricians don’t have. Thankfully this time we didn’t have any 12V bulbs on the main circuit to throw spanners into the works (things I’ve learnt – Supply your own bulbs!)
New Products
We’ve launched our “Weathered Steel” also known as “Our Competitors Finishes” or simply “Rust” for the Home Show and had many mentions of how “real it looked” vs. actual rust – Almost deceiving on the texture and appearance.
We’ll be adding the Weathered Steel range swatches to our Barn Light Styler pages, enabling a surcharge free finish until October 2022.
Our Post Mount Lights have been popular in requests however the wholesale cost of aluminium has stopped us short of releasing these units until our local fabrication company could supply sufficient quantities to launch. Without further Ado – Our Austin Post Mount Light as presented.
AFTER THE HOMESHOW
You probably wouldn’t believe it – but walking up and down for three days (at least) in a 6m booth, leaves your step count up high (8,000 per day) and your patience down, considerably lower than normal. For those of you visiting on Sunday and wondering why we’re even there – sitting on our butts, almost ignoring the crowds – this is why. We had 50% of all visitors talk to us on Saturday, and the remainder when we opened on Friday 30% – Sunday isn’t a popular time to visit by any measure of the word as most exhibitors start packing up (against the rules) at 4pm on Sunday evenings!
What did Mel & I do to escape? We managed to visit family on Saturday night at St. Kilda Beach and whilst we attempted a taxi a few times – none showed up so we opted for the next best (fun) thing – An electric scooter from St Kilda to Southbank without helmets.
Sydney or Brisbane?
If you want Barn Light to visit your homestate rather than travelling to Melbourne – Throw us a mention your Instagram or social media and tag us (@BarnLightAU) to give us an idea of where we’re more likely to get your attention.
So far we’re considering exhibiting at the Design + Decor Show in Sydney (October) or the Sydney Home Show (October) and are having a difficult time deciding between them both.
Until we’re there – or you visit us – Thanks for reading!
