August Vending Dates
In August 2018 we vended a total of 11 dates. Of those 11 dates we attended events in three different locations including our usual weekends at the Oliver Indoor Flea Market, two dates at the Princeton Chamber Make It, Bake It, Grow It mid-week outdoor market and our first time to the Market on the Mountain, and outdoor event at the Anarchist Mountain Rest Area near Osoyoos. We sold a total of 166 jars of product during the entire month.
In August 2019 we vended a total of 11 dates. Of those 11 dates we attended events on three different locations including our regular weekend dates at the Oliver Indoor Flea Market, one date at the Market on the Mountain at the outdoor Anarchist Mountain Rest Area on Highway 3 and a new event, an outdoor market at the One-Eyed Budgie Gift Shop in Keremeos. The last one we ended up leaving early due to the heat. We sold 160+ jars for the month.
The Busiest August Long Weekend We’ve Had
The August long weekend (August 3, 4 and 5, 2019) was our busiest weekend so far on record. That’s because JamBusters! was available at four different markets and we did our first-ever three different back-to-back markets in three days vending stint. The weekend started on the Saturday at the Oliver Indoor Flea Market. On the Sunday George and I went to the Anarchist Mountain event on Highway 3 east of Osoyoos while our vendor neighbours Sherrill and Maddy watched our Oliver booth.
The holiday Monday saw us located outside of the One-Eyed Budgie on Highway 3 in Keremeos for part of the day. We’ve known Dave and Susan there for some time now and when they offered us a spot at this event we thought it would be cool to vend somewhere on our way home from a busy weekend of vending. The temperature that day was scorching hot and I couldn’t take it. We ended up packing up and leaving two hours before the actual end of the event.
As for sales, the Saturday in Oliver was great, we outsold our previous totals on the Sunday at Anarchist Mountain and Mondays numbers were promising. In all it was a 93 jar weekend which was extremely good for us.
The Good, The Bad And The Really Bad
Although we typically have upbeat, positive vending dates, there is the odd time when something out of our control knocks the sails out of our excitement and enjoyable experience. One such incident took place mid-month at the Oliver Indoor Flea Market where another break-in occurred. This time the door that is located right next to our indoor booth was smashed and a number of items were taken from vendors booths in that part of the building.
When we got on site to vend one Saturday we were greeted by a boarded up door and an entrance that could not be used by the general public. One of our vendor neighbours had some items taken as did two other vendors in The Yellow Room. Our display and surrounding area was left undisturbed. This is the fourth break-in (plus one attempted B&E) since we’ve been vending there, now two and-a-half years.
I have to side with George when he says we obviously don’t have anything of value to steal. That’s partly because we leave the premises every Sunday afternoon with all valuables with us. George also says that if someone is desperate enough to steal a jar of salsa, jelly or jam, they obviously needed it so we don’t get too worked up about it. However, it would be nice if the building had some form of security other than chains and padlocks at each entrance.