Going to the Mall Anyone?

I just got contacted by a coordinator from our local mall. She wants us to come for the Christmas season. They would pay us to do faces and balloons. She also wants to know if we would be interested in setting up for a regular booth during prime time where we would charge for our services. I have no idea what to do. I am overwhelmed. We have basically done birthday parties and charity events at a local fair or two in the past. How do you all work out situations like this? Do you give a discount on your regular hourly rate for something like this (Christmas season job)? How much would you be willing to pay for a spot at the mall, and would you charge your normal PPF fees? She emailed me, so I have a day or two to figure it out before I contact her back. Any advice?

Thanks,
Lori

Whew, no advice here but it sounds awesome. What a great way to get your name out to the community! Sorry Im not much help but GOod Luck and Congrats.

It is just another client.

I have worked for our local mall - they pay my regular day rate, plus full hourly rate on top of that for the "overtime" which is any time over the 7 hours my dayrate covers.

For Christmas I'd be tempted to add a premium as it will be a bit more hectic.

I've been hired when the mall is doing mall-wide promotions such as Sidewalk Sales or Family Carnival themes. There is an advertised reason that parents will bring kids to the mall so there are huge, long, cranky lines of people.

As to setting up a PPF booth... that would depend. Most malls are not really all that full of kids - more parents on shopping missions and roaming bands of teens. Not really a money maker. But it would depend on the particular mall's demographic... some are dead, some are superbusy... you'll have to do a little research on them and the area.

I looked into having a 'kiosk' at my local mall - they wanted to charge a large amount per foot of space, plus i had to be insured.

Do your homework before committing.

I agree with Shannon and Sunflower.

Our mall here wanted $1200 per month for a small kiosk. Then of course there is the issue of if a child goes into a store after being painted and gets paint on the merchandise, who is to blame? When it's PPF your booth, the store could potentially come after you (hence the need for insurance).

Shannon is also absolutely right. Check your demographics. On the whole, malls tend to not have families will to spend on such extraneous things. Normally they are on a mission or have a budget. That's limiting with a year round thing.

Which mall? Carousel? I spoke with someone about setting up across from the bounce house section in Paradise Market but it after my research determined it wouldn't have been worth it.

Definitely do your homework and good luck!

It's the Oakdale Mall which is smaller than the Carousel and closer to me. I was thinking exactly the same thing that there wouldn't be many kids during the regular times and that the rent would be high. I wasn't thinking about the possibility of clothes getting ruined. That's definitely a good point. I was telling my husband that I think I will consider the holiday thing since they will pay my regular rates, but I was thinking it might not be worth a kiosk.

Thanks.