Mineral Mondays #67 Playing The Saitama Super Arena

A little over a week ago my wife and I played at the Saitama Super Arena. Ok we didn't actually play, but we did exhibit and it felt pretty damn cool.

Some of you know I am a gem and mineral dealer in Japan and several times a year we travel across the country to do events with the Mineral Marche gem show circuit.

This was our first time doing the Saitama show as I am usually overseas this time of year. I didn't know what to expect, but I was looking forward to it.

Saitama is next door to Tokyo and about 45 minutes from Shinjuku station.

I started out setting up on Thursday before the actual event on Friday - Sunday. When I arrived at the arena I was pretty blown away by how big it was and that we were actually going to be exhibiting. One of the event organizers told me they expected about 15,000 people.

We're still a small time dealer, in part because of COVID wiping out our momentum. Being small we are still learning things, especially regarding our display, but also the market.

Our baggage was delivered and I got busy setting up along with all the other dealers while still in awe of my surroundings.

One of the disadvantages we have compared to other dealers is we deal in individual specimens of many shapes and sizes. This means we have to have different boxes and displays instead of having a uniform set up. For example the gemstone dealers basically have 1 size to deal with, a 2" x 2" case for each gemstone. Or the dealers that carry bins of crystals just thrown in.

It took me 4 hours to set up the photo above. Of course I took my time, but even when we don't have an extra day it usually still takes us about 2 hours to set up. We are still trying to figure out a more efficient way to do this as well as get a more professional look.

I finished up at 5pm and headed home for the night, having to get up early the next morning. We still had to get to the show early the next day and finish setting up.

We arrived the next morning to overcast skies as we exited the train station.

The crafting & kids area at the entrance. There was also popcorn being made that smelled and tasted delicious.

Taking note of some of the other dealer's displays as we arrived.

All set up and ready for day 1.

The alarm sounded at 10am and the crowds began to be let in. There were a lot of people waiting.

Some celebrity or youtuber was there with a large camera crew. Many dealers were clamoring to get him to visit their booths.

Looking up and outside of the arena. I often gazed at this area trying to make sense of the structural steel.

The day went by quickly and our sales were about $600. We went out and had a nice dinner to end the day on a positive note.

The next day, Saturday, I was on my own. My wife wanted to hit the gym instead of working all day.

Saturday was actually going pretty poorly with only a few hundred in sales, then something magical happened. I snagged a whale. Two young guys from Gunma-ken were looking for "unique" specimens and they had cash to part with. One of the great things about our business is I am the only American with a direct connection to minerals from the United States. We have our niche market cornered and our product was exactly what these guys were looking for. Before we started the two gentlemen asked me, "If we buy lots can you give us a discount?"

"Of course" I said and they got to work. Little did I know they would end up buying $2600 worth! I gave them a 25% discount which dropped the full sale down to $1986.75.

This also became a challenge since I was alone I had to calculate the total & pack each specimen. It took almost 2 hours!

Later when I issued an official receipt at home I realized I had made some calculation errors in their favor of about $30. It wasn't a big deal though because we have a very nice markup and half of the minerals sold I collected in the field so no worries. Although every time I look at the discount I cringe giving away $660.

I immediately called my wife and told her to go get steak for dinner!

She was happy, but a bit upset I gave them such a big discount.

I closed out the day with about $2400 in sales! This was our best day at a show, but what we really need to do each day of a show in order to take the business to the next level.

The last day, Sunday, my wife & daughter came up. We were in high spirits as we have made a good amount of money already so this day would just sweeten up our sales.

Since my wife was there I was able to go do some shopping and look at other booths. This is a friend of ours, Minerarium. He makes and sells these terrariums filled with crystals.

I picked up some rare Japanese minerals.

Andradite "Rainbow garnet" from Nara.

Fluorescent hyalite opal from Hokkaido

And many more. Some are available on my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Rt395Minerals

My wife & daughter watched the science show by Genki Labo.

The following day he would appear on a popular Japanese morning TV show called Rabito(Love it/rabbit).

Sunday went by fast, but sales were less than we expected. We were way ahead though so it was fine. We ended up making about $3600 for 3 days. Not bad.

We packed everything up, which took us almost 2 hours and shipped everything back home. Then we went out to dinner again which I'll have to write about another day because the food was delicious.

It was odd, but incredibly fun doing a show in an arena. It brought me back to my DJing days many years ago. While I didn't play at any arenas, I did play at large clubs. I'm looking forward to doing the Saitama show next year.

Until then, the next show I'll be doing will probably be down in Nagoya, an awesome town, later this summer.

Ya, this could be could enough for us.....