Farmers Markets

Following on from my previous posting a bit and the comments made by Tonya, got me thinking about the way that some folks react to competition. In my Village there is an Independent store and when I first moved to the village, it was very good. It was then sold and the new owner seemed to lack the understanding of what made it work. Dropping many of the lines and services that drew customers in. So now it is just like any corner shop that you can find anywhere.

But the one action that really perplexed me was when the newsagent was taken under new ownership too and started selling a few grocery items. The owner of the village store took the silly action of starting to sell newspapers. Now both are likely to fail as businesses as all they have done is split the trade.

At markets, craft fairs and farmers markets (over here), I so often see this “me too” attitude where traders see someone doing well and starting to do the same things. Why? I personally think it would be better to do a few things well, than trying to copy what everyone else is doing.

Equally, I do not fear competition, even if others came along selling herbs and spices, it is the service and quality that helps me win customers. Additionally as I mix my own blends, even if someone were to copy me, I doubt that they would match what I am doing. Often though I have seen folks at fairs and markets just complaining about competition.

Now it may well be that the reason their stuff is not selling is that it is not appealing to the customer. Often at craft fairs in particular, crafter's produce items that they seem to think will earn money because they have seen similar items in shops that are made cheaply in China. An example is door number plaques. I see them so often that there must be two for every house in Britain.

Equally, at Farmers markets I see organic vegetables that are over priced and not the best quality. The sellers often fall back on the old mantra of “Its Organic”. Well organic they may be, but poor quality vegetables are still poor quality, organic or not. And I say this as a fan of organic produce, and good organic Vegetables are better than chemically grown ones. Put simply they do taste better, and I am not talking about appearance either. As a sometimes gardener, I can see what is good quality and what should have gone for compost.

However, at the best markets, there is not these problems as the quality is good, there is diversity and specialists crate great items. I love good farmers markets for discovering something different and some great food. If I had the money, I would love to buy my furniture from the great makers that you can find.

I think often with markets it is the attitude of the sellers that makes folks want to return and buy. If the sellers have a good positive attitude the potential customers pick up on that feeling.

I know that markets, of any type, are hard work. I also know that if a seller is not making sales it can be dispiriting, but personally I often see the lack of sales as a way of understanding what people don’t want as much what customers do want. So I wish good luck to Tonya and anyone else trying to sell at farmers markets or any other market.