- Two weeks ago my booth moved from the main parking lot at the University District Farmers' Market to the courtyard right next to the community center which hosts the event. Officially we're not even part of the market anymore, but rather participants in a weekly event hosted by the community center.
We vended in this courtyard last summer, and it was consistently our slowest weekly event. But I felt like it had potential, so I stuck with it. (I was vending at the Ballard Farmers' Market before it was really worthwhile-you never know which market could turn into the next Ballard.)
We've been there for 2 weeks now this season, and we've already seen a dramatic improvement, in fact, this past Saturday we sold 30% more than our best day in all of last year. The difference: the coordinators managed to convince the market staff to reposition the farmers with box trucks on either side of the pathway leading up to the food court, putting an extra 10 feet between them. Now you can actually see the food court from the market.
Big thanks to Mike Dash, of Rolling Fire Pizza, who set this whole project in motion, and stuck with it in spite of all kinds of obstacles. His enthusiasm has been the main reason we've continued to give it a chance, in spite of a rough first year, and a difficult load and unload situation.
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