Weaving #2 At the Market

This past Saturday was the first day for the Peterborough Farmer's Market to be outside. It was a glorious day - sunny, not much of a breeze - just about perfect weather for the first weekend in May. It was even hot enough so that my one foot that was in the sun got a bit of a sunburn (I always spin barefoot). For some reason, in spite of the great weather, the market was not all that crowded. On some Saturdays the wide rows between stalls are packed with people making it difficult for people to see everything there is to see. Not this week. In fact there were blocks of time when it was felt as if there were hardly any shoppers at all.

Perhaps folks were still in cool weather mode and the nice weather surprised them. Perhaps it was so nice that people decided to get their yard work done instead of shopping, or it may have been that shopping at the market is not yet part of their weekend routine. Regardless it was a very slow day and in terms of sales for me, it may have been my worst day ever. Shoppers may have found my newly raised prices a bit too much and they most likely didn't come with an extra $100.00 in their purses or wallets. I know that spending $125.00 on a relatively small throw rug, no matter how soft or how great the colour is, is for most folks, a lot of money. I was initially somewhat cynical a year or so ago when people said that they liked my stuff and would be back next week. I have since learned that in at least some cases they do come back at some point and buy something.So while it is frustrating when folks don't buy, I understand that for many, especially on a non-essential item, making such a decision is a multi-step process.

In spite of the poor sales, I had a great time. It is fun to watch the other vendors set up, and for many of them, to renew their relationships with each other. Some of the vendors have been coming for years and they know each other's children and grandchildren. There are hugs, lots of laughter and shouting back and forth as they get their booths set up. I, as a newbie, get ignored by old-timers, but there are a handful of vendors who I now know reasonably well. My next door neighbour for most of my time at the market (I get moved around a fair amount as I am a new boy on the block) is a man about my age who along with his mother, sells potatoes that they grow on their farm south of Peterborough. I have learnt so much about potatoes in just listening to his comments as he sells to his customers. He and I are of a like mind when it comes to politics and the present federal government. We usually manage to find five or ten minutes to mutually grieve at the absurdity of the folks in Ottawa.

Saturday was also a great day  for me to re-acquaint myself with setting up the awning and the display racks inside. I spend the occasional early winter morning laying in my bed trying to figure out how to create display space that can be compressed into my little Toyota Yaris hatchback. Assembling the display needs to be fairly quick. Vendors start getting there around 6:00AM and by just before 7:00 the early bird shoppers are there. While those early shoppers are generally very focused on just buying food and then getting home, I feel that I need to be open for business when everyone else is. It has been challenging to create ways of showing off my stuff and at the same time have it designed so that it sets up and breaks down quickly.

The location of the Farmers' Market presents an additional problem. It is on a parking lot next to a soccer field.  It can get very windy. In fact it can get so windy that even with weights on the corners of the tents, vendors can be seen holding the tents down so that they don't fly away. I fairly frequently have anchored my tent to my car for extra security.

I thought I had figured everything out in the dark mornings of winter. However I came back with a few more modifications for next week.

More latter