Missed The First Saturday of the Month
Oddly enough, the first Saturday vending date this month we had to skip. It had nothing to do with health or weather. It happened to be the same date as a Celebration of Life for a former customers/subscriber of ours when we had our newspaper business. Lynne was also a friend and when we discovered that the date for her service was the same as a vending date it made for an easy decision. George supported it and we went to the Celebration of Life and left immediately afterwards to get to Osoyoos for the night. We vended as usual the next day in Oliver.
A Place To Stay Whenever We Need To
The biggest difference for us this year versus last year with JamBusters! and vending in January is the travel. Thanks to our vendor neighbours Don and Sherrill – who have become close friends with us – we have a place to stay during the weekend if weather is foul. So far, it has been a huge benefit to us as travelling back and forth daily to Princeton does make for some rather early mornings and late afternoons. During the warmer months this is not such an issue but in Winter, it is dark when we leave home and dark by the time we get back home to Princeton.
The Hours Have Therefore Been Reduced
Here’s what a typical vending weekend looks like for us in January. On Saturdays we get up at 5:00 AM and leave the house by 6:00 AM. We will get into Oliver by 7:30 AM if the roads are good and traffic is flowing. Sometimes we get there at just before 8:00 AM. The market runs from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Again, if roads and traffic is good, we leave shortly after 3:00 PM and can be back home by 4:45 PM. Sundays are the same but an hour later on our departure from home and the market opens an hour later at 9:00 AM. This is year ‘round.
Watkins Sales Are Continuing To Pick Up
Another interesting difference between January 2018 and 2019 is that we are seeing a lot more sales of our Watkins products. This has been developing over the past few months. Also, although our daily jar sale totals this year are down from last year, the extra vending dates we were able to attend this month has pushed our jar total well over the number sold in January 2018. Both George and I are looking forward to an excellent year in business and anticipate great things for us at the market and elsewhere. Even phone sales have increased!
Yes, That’s Correct, We Are Getting Phone Orders
While it is not unusual for us to have the odd customer phone us for either JamBusters! or Watkins products, typically we receive messages via social media. One day late in the month we had a couple of phone calls related to JamBusters! business. Although I have stated it is not really out of the ordinary for this to happen, it is a bit of a rarity to have this happen in January. It really thrills us to have so much interest in our products and it is what keeps us going. If January is any indication, then 2019 is most definitely going to be a banner year for us!