Vendor markets are a great way to meet some of North Carolina’s talented artisans and to see some of the items they create. The mild weather of NC also makes it the perfect location for a variety of markets, street fairs, and festivals.
Michelle and Gabriel, the team behind SimplyNCgoods, have enjoyed visiting these local events since they first met. The well-known festivals in the state like the Cheerwine Festival, the Mt. Olive Pickle Festival, and the Lexington BBQ Festival bring large crowds, lots of activities, and excitement. The smaller, more localized events are a neat way to experience a community and discover those products that not everyone knows about.
One of the events in the Triangle-area that we really enjoy is the Art-n-Soul Vendor Markets. They are generally held a couple times each month from April through November, with an event in Cary and one in Durham each month.
We try to make it out to these markets as often as we can. We have even come across some of our Vendor Partners for past, current, or future SimplyNCgoods subscription boxes through Art-n-Soul. So, we were very excited when Leslie, the person behind Art-n-Soul, mentioned the idea of SimplyNCgoods being a vendor at one of the markets.
We took a look at our calendars and made arrangements to be a vendor at the April 13th market at Mystic Farm in Durham, NC. We were quite eager to see what the vendor market experience is like from the other side. What’s it like to be a vendor rather than to be one of the people perusing the market?
Well, before the market comes the packing of the vehicle. And before the packing of the vehicle, comes the prepping of your products and planning for your booth/table.
The high winds of market day led us to scrap our original plans for set-up and get a bit creative. Our tent was a no-go, because even with sandbags weighing it down, it still posed the risk of becoming a projectile in the winds. Not the kind of excitement we wanted for the day! We also ended up using a box that had been meant only for transport to contain our grab bags so they wouldn’t blow away.
But after some creative thinking, and a few minor meltdowns by Michelle (the high-strung one on this team), SimplyNCgoods was ready to go for our first market.
We had a few extra boxes from our most recent shipment to subscribers, so we decided to bring those to market to give an idea of what a SimplyNCgoods might contain.
We prepared some “event only grab bags” for purchase at varying price points. These bags contained a mix of products from some of our Vendor Partners that had previously been featured in a SimplyNCgoods box. Each grab bag had a folded sticky note on the back that listed the contents. This allowed those who wanted to choose a specific bag based on the contents to do just that. But it also allowed for a surprise for those who preferred a bit of mystery to their purchase. We enjoyed sharing in the excitement with those who chose to open their bag at our table.
It was so fun to get to talk with folks and share the mission of SimplyNCgoods to help North Carolina’s small businesses thrive. Many of those in attendance were folks who already value supporting small, local businesses. We even connected with some folks who have their own small businesses and could be potential Vendor Partners for a future box.
We encourage you to check out markets such as this in your area. It really is neat to connect with the person who created an item you love. You also get to know that the money you spend helps keep that entrepreneur’s dream alive.
We’re planning to do more vendor markets and events in the future, so keep a lookout for information about where we’ll be next. Also remember, the SimplyNCgoods online store is ALWAYS OPEN.
SimplyNCgoods is a quarterly subscription box service that brings unique products made by NC-based artisans directly to your door. Learn more at www.SimplyNCgoods.com and be sure to follow along on Facebook and Instagram.