Carolyn Hasenfratz's Blog

Normandy, Missouri - June 20, 2011 - Webinar Resources is proud to announce the launch of a new web site, Sell66Stuff.com. The web site is designed to help businesses market their products along historic Route 66. Listings in the directory for retailers, wholesalers and event promoters who want to sell products on Route 66 are free of charge, and can include a photo and a link back to the business web site. Paid ad space is also available on Sell66Stuff.com.

Carolyn Hasenfratz, Creative Director of Webinar Resources and a fan of Route 66 for a dozen years now, thought of the idea for Sell66Stuff.com while exhibiting Route 66 themed rubber stamps at the 2010 International Route 66 Festival that took place in June of that year in Quawpaw, Oklahoma. "Another vendor asked me if I could recommend other upcoming events with opportunities for selling Route 66-related merchandise," says Carolyn. "I knew there were many calendars available online for events on Route 66, but none that were designed specifically to make it easy for vendors to find suitable exhibition opportunities that attract Route 66 enthusiasts and those who enjoy historic highways, Americana and car culture. On the drive home, I thought about creating such an events directory and adding to it a section for retailers and a section for wholesalers so that anyone trying to sell products on Route 66 can find the right outlets for their merchandise. Many retailers on Route 66 report that one-third to one-half of their customers are from outside the United States. That creates a great opportunity for business people in our country to expose their products to a wider audience."

Sell66Stuff.com is also designed to help stores find interesting merchandise to help diversify and differentiate their offerings. "I've been told that travelers on Route 66 have complained about seeing the same merchandise in the same several stores they initially encounter, and that causes them to stop less frequently as they proceed down the road. That is very unfortunate, because Route 66 is a magnet for creative people. There are entrepreneurs, artists and craftspeople busy creating unique merchandise that could find more buyers if it was available in the right places."

Because they often contain gift shops, lodging and dining establishments are encouraged to join the directory. The inclusion of restaurants opens up opportunities to those who sell food and drink, not just special Route 66 themed products, but any food and drink that restaurants need for the tourists who stop in. Also, "Even though they don't always sell "Stuff", I'm allowing performing artists to participate, because so many of the dining and drinking establishments that are good candidates for the directory also hire live entertainment," says Carolyn.

"Route 66 means a lot of different things to different people - one of the roles Route 66 has played from its birth is to be a road of commerce. In that tradition one of the goals of Sell66Stuff.com is to make a contribution to the overall economic health of the Route 66 corridor." An ardent preservationist, Carolyn hopes that leveraging the economic potential of Route 66 will ensure that more historic sites will remain for future tourists to enjoy. "One of the things that makes me saddest is waste," Carolyn says. "If preservation projects languish because of lack of money or are never started in the first place because people aren't aware of the potential a historic site has, that is a waste and a loss for all of us."