Strange new world
May. 28th, 2020 11:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrCross-posted from offcenter.biz
Saturday Market has formalized their plan to open for 2020, and... it's complicated.
Opening day is Saturday, June 13, just over two weeks away. They've spread out the food court, blocking the stage, and won't be having any sit-down eating or entertainment for the foreseeable future. To allow for proper distancing among the art/craft vendors, they are alternating odd and even booths, by week. Opening weekend, only odd booth spaces will be filled, with evens left vacant. The following weekend, even booths will be open... you get the picture.
Those of us with reserved spaces will have them on our appropriate weekends; on the alternates, we have the option of joining the lottery with non-reserved vendors wishing to sell, and may wind up anywhere on the blocks. (You can see their new maps here: odd/even.)
Other restrictions include using side walls, regardless of weather. Wearing masks is required for vendors and staff. Limiting to one customer in the booth at a time, with six-foot spacing if there's a line. They recommend covering your product with or wrapping in plastic, or creating some kind of transparent barrier. And they want to enforce a No-Touching rule.
Okay. How will this effect Off Center Ceramics?
To begin with, our booth number is odd (349), so we will be selling opening weekend. I've decided to forgo selling on even weeks, to make more room for other vendors, and because I need the extra time a reserve space gives me, for set-up. I'm changing my booth display slightly, to make it easier for me to get access if I need to pick up a pot for a customer, to show or sell; also if I need to disinfect surfaces. Denise's paper products are already plastic packaged; I won't be shrink wrapping pottery, but I will be wiping down with sanitizer as needed. I'll also be turning off the signature feature on my Square reader.
I don't know how this will work out, in the end. We'll take it as it comes, and if it seems like it's not safe, or not working for us, I have the option of petitioning Market for a sabbatical year, and getting my reserve space back in 2021.
Meanwhile, there's always my website. I'm fairly well-stocked on regular items and patterns, and able to pack and ship, or arrange pick-up, if you're local. Custom patterns or forms may take a hiatus for a while--I don't know when I'll be firing next. I've posted a page with my current inventory of patterns and forms--no pictures, just a list--click the "In Stock" button to the left there.
Saturday Market has formalized their plan to open for 2020, and... it's complicated.
Opening day is Saturday, June 13, just over two weeks away. They've spread out the food court, blocking the stage, and won't be having any sit-down eating or entertainment for the foreseeable future. To allow for proper distancing among the art/craft vendors, they are alternating odd and even booths, by week. Opening weekend, only odd booth spaces will be filled, with evens left vacant. The following weekend, even booths will be open... you get the picture.
Those of us with reserved spaces will have them on our appropriate weekends; on the alternates, we have the option of joining the lottery with non-reserved vendors wishing to sell, and may wind up anywhere on the blocks. (You can see their new maps here: odd/even.)
Other restrictions include using side walls, regardless of weather. Wearing masks is required for vendors and staff. Limiting to one customer in the booth at a time, with six-foot spacing if there's a line. They recommend covering your product with or wrapping in plastic, or creating some kind of transparent barrier. And they want to enforce a No-Touching rule.
Okay. How will this effect Off Center Ceramics?
To begin with, our booth number is odd (349), so we will be selling opening weekend. I've decided to forgo selling on even weeks, to make more room for other vendors, and because I need the extra time a reserve space gives me, for set-up. I'm changing my booth display slightly, to make it easier for me to get access if I need to pick up a pot for a customer, to show or sell; also if I need to disinfect surfaces. Denise's paper products are already plastic packaged; I won't be shrink wrapping pottery, but I will be wiping down with sanitizer as needed. I'll also be turning off the signature feature on my Square reader.
I don't know how this will work out, in the end. We'll take it as it comes, and if it seems like it's not safe, or not working for us, I have the option of petitioning Market for a sabbatical year, and getting my reserve space back in 2021.
Meanwhile, there's always my website. I'm fairly well-stocked on regular items and patterns, and able to pack and ship, or arrange pick-up, if you're local. Custom patterns or forms may take a hiatus for a while--I don't know when I'll be firing next. I've posted a page with my current inventory of patterns and forms--no pictures, just a list--click the "In Stock" button to the left there.