Show and sell: the life of a housewares hawker

Read was taught to hand out a few products for people to inspect. But when some mistook them for giveaways, he dropped the practice. It was awkward to approach people about returning the merchandise.

On a really good day, he says, he might sell several hundred brooms and mops at $20 each. As with real estate, sales are a factor of location.

His preference is a quiet crossroads corner. Unlike some colleagues who "can handle the noise" and don't mind "slugging it out," he likes a more laid-back atmosphere where, using a microphone, he doesn't have to shout.

Building a crowd, he says, energizes the pitch. If traffic is light he invites everybody who walks by to witness a demo. If that doesn't work, he starts showing his wares, even if nobody is listening.

Abbate uses a sign on his pot-and-pan-populated stage to announce when the next show begins. Two rows of folding chairs welcome the foot-weary. He likes to work with the sounds of Glenn Miller playing in the background.

"A lot of people like it, and I've never had anyone offended by it," Abbate says.

His strategy is to create an environment that people want to be part of. A framed photo of his children is displayed along with his wares. Appearance, he says, is very important, so he makes sure he is meticulously groomed and keeps his booth spic-and-span.

Abbate spends about 2-1/2 hours setting up, and as long packing up at the end. Plus, he devotes about an hour each day of the show to getting ready to cook and serve about six to eight meals.

At a show in Reedsville, Pa., a member of the local Lions Club once presented him with a plaque for having an exemplary booth. The only problem was that the presentation dragged on too long – and Abbate lost his audience.

Abbate calls himself an amateur gourmet and enjoys singing the praises of the cookware.

For a weekend show, he usually buys all his groceries ahead of time. "When people see you with 25 cucumbers, 25 zucchinis, and six red cabbages," he says, "they ask, 'Do you have a restaurant?' "

Sometimes he forgets to plug in his electric skillet. "Halfway into the show I open the skillet and say, oops, I guess we're not cooking chicken today," he says.

When he first started pitching cookware, he also occasionally forgot to turn off the pan with the vegetables. "People would say, 'What is that smell?' " The bloopers appear to be a thing of the past.

Abbate says many consumers are "very, very skeptical. They've been infomercialed to death." At some shows, he says, he struggles just to give away paring knives.

Customers, he finds, may sit through a cooking show one year, size up his performance and products, then come back the next year to make a purchase.

Abbate gives out his phone number to make for a more personal transaction, and is happy to field calls, even though a cookbook and videotape that come with a purchase contain all the information a buyer would ever need.

Abbate says most of his cousins are doctors and attorneys, but he says he enjoys what he does, makes just as much money, has complete control of his finances as an independent contractor, and has more time at home with his family – six weeks off in the summertime and six weeks off during holiday periods. "So if people look at what I do in kind of an off way, in the back of my mind I say, 'Well, that's all right, but they don't really have the full picture."

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