Neighborly
Jul. 4th, 2021 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrI have neighbors again! After a year of alternate-week, every-other-space empty Saturday Market, we're finally at 100% capacity. And I finally see folks I haven't since 2019.
Brandy, on my left, took last year off from selling, so built a lot of inventory. She makes lampwork beads, beautiful tiny landscapes in Murano glass. She's a familiar face and product, draws lots of new and repeat customers.
Bruce, on my right, is also back after taking 2020 off. He originally did boxes and chests from recycled wood, but had been working with his son installing carpet, and has taken remnants and tree trunks and plywood to make cat furniture. Says he did very well last year, selling through Facebook Marketplace as Cat Trees Galore. His booth is full of cat trees, but it's a tough sell, with nothing low-end or portable. I think he'll have to take some time to build up visibility with potential customers.
It's a little different, being closed in. On the one hand, I'm better shaded both in load-in and load-out. On the other, I can't push my restock boxes out into the next space when I need to get under the counter, and I have to get out of the habit of coming in through the side; back or front are my choices now. I do like customers not being able to pick stuff up from the outside of my booth. I've designed my display to face inward; I prefer folks where they can see my work, and I can see them.
There's a big crowd at check-in, a festive air as people greet friends who've been away for a year, or simply on an alternate schedule. Even with the crowd, Kirsten gets through the entire list, with spaces left over.
I have a very busy day; one customer alone buys $269 worth of pots. I sell a bunch of stew mugs, in six different patterns, so I don't run out of anything. Soup bowls, mugs, tumblers and glasses. A customer buys an elephant soup bowl, then changes her mind, asking if she can trade it in on an elephant small covered casserole, so I learn how to issue a refund in Square and swipe her again for the more expensive product.
A mom and five-year-old son stop to admire the banks. She really wants to get him a T. Rex; he prefers the elephant. I jokingly suggest she get them each one. She briefly considers it, then says she'll have to think about it. They don't come back, but I'm too busy to be disappointed.
Digging through the restock box, looking for an elephant dessert plate, I come across the platypus plate, show it to the customer. She immediately adds it to her pile, along with the elephant, a kingfisher and a sloth. I also find my red-sided frog, a native Oregon species, so decide to give him some table time as well.
Another $800+ day. Not sure I can keep up if this continues. Next week I'm off Market, doing a pop-up sale at Club Mud. It was supposed to be an even-booth day. I don't think any of us expected restrictions to lift this early.
Brandy, on my left, took last year off from selling, so built a lot of inventory. She makes lampwork beads, beautiful tiny landscapes in Murano glass. She's a familiar face and product, draws lots of new and repeat customers.
Bruce, on my right, is also back after taking 2020 off. He originally did boxes and chests from recycled wood, but had been working with his son installing carpet, and has taken remnants and tree trunks and plywood to make cat furniture. Says he did very well last year, selling through Facebook Marketplace as Cat Trees Galore. His booth is full of cat trees, but it's a tough sell, with nothing low-end or portable. I think he'll have to take some time to build up visibility with potential customers.
It's a little different, being closed in. On the one hand, I'm better shaded both in load-in and load-out. On the other, I can't push my restock boxes out into the next space when I need to get under the counter, and I have to get out of the habit of coming in through the side; back or front are my choices now. I do like customers not being able to pick stuff up from the outside of my booth. I've designed my display to face inward; I prefer folks where they can see my work, and I can see them.
There's a big crowd at check-in, a festive air as people greet friends who've been away for a year, or simply on an alternate schedule. Even with the crowd, Kirsten gets through the entire list, with spaces left over.
I have a very busy day; one customer alone buys $269 worth of pots. I sell a bunch of stew mugs, in six different patterns, so I don't run out of anything. Soup bowls, mugs, tumblers and glasses. A customer buys an elephant soup bowl, then changes her mind, asking if she can trade it in on an elephant small covered casserole, so I learn how to issue a refund in Square and swipe her again for the more expensive product.
A mom and five-year-old son stop to admire the banks. She really wants to get him a T. Rex; he prefers the elephant. I jokingly suggest she get them each one. She briefly considers it, then says she'll have to think about it. They don't come back, but I'm too busy to be disappointed.
Digging through the restock box, looking for an elephant dessert plate, I come across the platypus plate, show it to the customer. She immediately adds it to her pile, along with the elephant, a kingfisher and a sloth. I also find my red-sided frog, a native Oregon species, so decide to give him some table time as well.
Another $800+ day. Not sure I can keep up if this continues. Next week I'm off Market, doing a pop-up sale at Club Mud. It was supposed to be an even-booth day. I don't think any of us expected restrictions to lift this early.