Where to find me on weekend: Farmer's markets

If you're reading this, you're probably not entirely new to this blog or my products. Maybe you've seen some of my stuff on Facebook (like us on FB!) or seen some pictures someone has shared (happily of course!) or you've just seen the things I post on here. At some point, perhaps, you've thought, "It would be nice to actually SEE some of this stuff in real life, but I don't know where or how to do that."

Well I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that if you live on the West Coast, or in Russia, or...most of the rest of the world actually...the only way you'll see most of this stuff in real life is to either travel a long way to visit the Madoc area or buy something from just a picture online and look at it when it arrives in the mail.

The good news is, if you are local (more or less) to the Madoc/Marmora "Comfort Country" area you can either contact me to stop by the shop for a visit (there's really not much to "tour") or stop by one of two local farmer's markets.

For a few months now I have been a regular at the Marmora farmer's market on Saturdays. The market runs from around 8AM to 2PM, though you'll find vendors set up before and after those times (don't trust to later though, come early).  The market sets up in the park down by the river on Hwy 7 next to the information center. Visitors will recognize it as a market by the small tent city which appears seemingly out of nowhere between 7 and 9am.

I have for some time now been toying with the idea of setting up at the Madoc Friday market. Madoc runs a market on fridays and Saturdays; the Saturday event being more formal and being accompanied by live music. However, having built up a bit of a customer base in marmora, and typically having custom orders to deliver as well, I stick to marmora for Saturdays. Friday there is a smaller, less formal assembly of vendors and I've recently joined their ranks.

How recently? Well, this morning was my first appearance. I was there bright and early with my full inventory show setup. Frankly, it was a bit of a disappointment. Not a lot of foot traffic, not a lot of market visitors and not a lot of sales. But, a few cards went out to interested potential buyers, which is good, and I'll be back again next week, having been assured that business was slow today.

The Madoc market has a small location in downtown Madoc where the municipality has built a large open shelter to house vendors, complete with washrooms at the West end of the pavilion. The hours are more or less the same as Marmora's, 8-2, but again, both Fridays and Saturdays.

So why do I do the small local markets? Well sales are normally decent and it gets me out of the shop at least once a week, but more than that it's the opportunity to meet people from the community and develop a bit of a relationship with many of them. I like talking to folks for the umpteenth time about new products and having them know that the stuff I sell is dependably built.

And let's be honest: I love custom work. When someone comes and asks me if I can make (insert idea here) I enjoy being able to talk it through with them on the spot and watching the expression on their face when I deliver it to them (almost always the following weekend). Don't get me wrong, I don't mind online sales at all, and i value all of my customers, but in most cases I can't be there when those orders get delivered to see those happy faces. And I don't think anything compares with the look on the face of a child when you hand them a toy that has been built just for them.

So if you're a local or just passing through, stop by and see me at one of our local markets. We can talk a while and I'll show you my new stuff that hasn't been posted yet, you can leave happy with something you know you'll like and maybe you can even look around at some of the other fine artisans and vendors too.

Don