May 9, 2009

First Saturday at Market!!!
It was raining when I arrived at Tracie's to help her load up her truck for the market. So we waited a bit for it to let up. I didn't realize how much stuff people bring to the market at one time. It's not just 1o or 15 cookies...it's an entire truck load! She had baskets for displaying the items, a cooler for perishable things, three tables, table cloths (not necessary, but nice) all of the items to sell, towels to cover the items, sample cups, Tupperware to carry most of it in, bags for the customers to take their things home in, and of course a huge green umbrella. Oh yes, and the cash box with change. It really is a lot of stuff to remember, so the first, and probably most important, universal farmer's market lesson for the day was: organization and preparation are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. She had already put most of the items for sale in the Tupperware ( I assume the night before) which was helpful. It also helped to have her many Saturdays of experience. If it was me, I would probably need a written check list because that's how I operate. It wouldn't matter how many weeks I had been to the market. It took about 30 minutes to load up the truck, and about 30 minutes to set up at the market.
Once we got to market, the sun came out (Tracie shared another trick of the trade with me: it is always possible to will the rain away. ) Her regulars were there as soon as we arrived. Some of them returned her bottles, and hummus containers for reuse. Tracie offers these customers a $0.50 credit on their next purchase. I think this deal is genius. Not only is it good for the environment, but it saves her on cost, and the customers are always happy to have their loyalty rewarded. Another deal she offers is to have some of the items, which are $1.75 individually, priced at 3 for $5 which the customers can mix and match. (i.e. A customer can buy a scone and a cookie for $3.50, or they can throw a muffin in the mix and it's only $5) This is an extra $1.50 she wouldn't have made, had she not had the deal in place.
One regular customer in particular was such a funny character, lets just say she was no shy violet. She had the scoop on everyone at the market, all the vendors anyway. She was telling us how rude the one of the other bakers was because they were selling something similar to what we had at UtGU, only two tables away. This was my second universal farmer's market lesson: remember that the market is a community. Make sure you are communicating with the other vendors. This fosters diversity in the products which not only makes it a more enjoyable experience for customers(who wants to go to a market with five places to buy muffins but no fresh bread?), but also encourages a more cooperative rather than competitive spirit among vendors.
Another or Tracie's method's I picked up on was to have everything in baskets, covered with some fabric (European style) rather than stuffed into plastic. Every person who walked by commented on how good everything smelled and looked. The copious and casual look of the table, combined with the samples we had set out created a very organic and welcoming environment.
I had a very enjoyable experience on Saturday, I look forward to next week!