Dare I jump in here with some history and hop info many of you may not know?
In the late 1990s the shop I owned along with 9 other Dallas/Ft. Worth area shops, met to organize the FIRST ever Texas shop hop. We set certain parameters:
* Only 10 shops could participate. (There were 28 shops in the area at the time!!) The 10 on our hop covered over 280 miles of traveling! Some groups hired a bus, stayed overnight and shopped for the whole weekend, LOL!
* Each shop gave away part of a whole quilt's pattern - quilt was designed by one of the shops.
* Each shop stamped a passport which hoppers had to complete in order to enter the drawings at the end.
* Each shop served refreshments, had extra staff on hand, had door prize drawings about every 1/2 hour, was *not* allowed to hold special sales during the shop hop.
* The Hop was held Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon with extended hours.
* Each shop had to donate $100 toward the Grand Prize, the rest was all donated that first year, including a new sewing machine from Bernina (I believe it was). It was a magnificent Prize!
* That first Shop Hop weekend, as shop owners, we were astounded at the success of the venture. The shop that made the most income that weekend made $19,000; the least made was $11,000!! In one weekend!
The following year, the same 10 shops refused to expand to a larger number of shops in the Hop, so other shop owners in the area created The Spring Fling and had their own shop hop. :D
Sandy Brawner of Quilt Country in Lewisville, TX, and I got to discussing the shop hop ventrue on FabShopNet (long before it was what it is now) and told the other shop owner members how successful and how much fun it had been. Before we could turn around the shop hop idea had spread across the country like wildfire!
It was a joy to go into shops as I traveled from TX to VA on vacation, see how other locations were handling the logistics and to share with them what had worked for us originally. But none I ever talked to made the kind of profit experienced that first year for the original 10 shops, sadly.
It's been a long time since I personally went on one of the hops as I no longer enjoy thrill of the crowds and energy. But I love that the idea is still viable and enjoyed by many!
Jan in VA (formerly owner of Silver Threads, Inc. in Plano, TX, now closed)