It is with regret that the Market Scheduled for June 1, 2013 at the Whitehorse Club is hereby CANCELLED. This is due to the sudden and unexpected doubling of the fees by the operator of the Whitehorse Club venue. While we really don't like cancelling market events, the only way we could have run this market would have been to collect the increase by increasing stall fees by between $8.00 - $15.00 (depending on the stall) which in my view in unconscionable given I cannot in return guarantee a better market experience for the increase.
Indie Market Place does have other markets running at Brighton on the 26th May (closing fast) and the new Mt Dandenong Outdoor Market on 8th June (very limited indoor spaces available).
For those really interested to try the Whitehorse Club, our friends at Babuska Moo Markets are running one there at some point, please check their Facebook Page or Website for more information.
Monday, 13 May 2013
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Indie Market Place, Brighton Market, 21 October 2012
Delighted that we were able to re-secure the Brighton Recreational Centre, Indie Market Place enthusiastically got involved in preparing for the October market. We knew that Brighton was quite a viable location from the last market but we also knew we had to focus more on the marketing as we did not manage to get the mention from the Age Newspaper again.
So not only did we redouble our marketing online, but we doubled also our postcard letterbox hand delivery which worked so well for us to date. Delivering 5,000 postcards to locations around Brighton was a hell of a challenge and certainly helped us to discover muscles we didn't know we had and blisters that actually grew their own blisters! But undeterred by minor issues such as these, we managed to do the entire job and even discovered a couple of business owners with unique products for our market, who quickly signed up.
With applications finalised, we worked around the clock to ensure we were ready for the day!
On the day however we were to discover that a couple of major events, a bike riding event and the Sandringham Festival was to play havoc on the numbers who attended and to our horror it was a quieter market than we expected. We were a bit gutted, especially when a number of the stallholders who did really well last time found it to be a lot quieter. On the other hand we did hear from more than a few stallholders that while they sold less in quantity they did sell some of their more expensive items and so the sales made were quite good. But too many also did not make enough money to justify turning up and this is just not good enough on our part.
We also managed to not get listed in the Leader newspaper and that is a mistake we're not going to let happen again!!
But miraculously, we did notice that there was still a friendly, cheerful environment about and this kept the ambience pleasant. We've to date had better markets each time, and perhaps this market reminds us that we should never take things for granted and not to start thinking we 'know it all'.
For all of you who didn't achieve the sales volumes you hoped for, we sincerely apologise. It was never our intention of course, and we thank you for the continued faith you have with us and we do understand that it is not limitless, so please bear with us. We can make this work.
But it wasn't all bad news, Grumbletumms has one of their best days yet, and several stallholders got cards out and received big orders after, and in some ways, that is a really important point. We love to see our stall holders making good money on the day; but it doesn't have to be just that day! If a brochure, business card or even some marketing material can reach a persons' hand as they walk past your stall, there is always a chance of after market orders! I know at least one stall holder who does most of their sales after the market, and little at the market itself. We think it's possible in most cases to do both.
So now we're powering on again, planning for the Bulleen, Box Hill and Brighton markets!! Then we'll have a well earned rest over the Christmas Season!
On another matter! Remember our Indie Market Place Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Indie-Market-Place/203384406382205?ref=hl. We run an open page! We know we don't own you, or the market world so we encourage anyone, from other markets to other business operators to advertise your business and products on our page. We don't insist on you even being an Indie Market Place member to do so! We see it as a page where many businesses and other markets can advertise too! You run a great market that you think our stallholders like? Put it on our page! Let's give them many choices!
Remember, Indie Market Place's philosophy is to create opportunities for everyone, clients, stall holders and yes, even other market operators. We don't see other market operators as competitors, we believe we can provide a service which complements the many other services out there and are happy to encourage other markets too, especially if it gives greater opportunities to our stall holders. The world is big, the market is big and there is enough for us all!
But that doesn't mean we don't care. When you hire a stall from Indie Market Place, we will always do our best to listen and our best to do the right thing by you. We know we aren't experts, but we will always be willing to learn from you because many of you have seen so many markets that we can learn from you!
Onwards to Bulleen!!!
So not only did we redouble our marketing online, but we doubled also our postcard letterbox hand delivery which worked so well for us to date. Delivering 5,000 postcards to locations around Brighton was a hell of a challenge and certainly helped us to discover muscles we didn't know we had and blisters that actually grew their own blisters! But undeterred by minor issues such as these, we managed to do the entire job and even discovered a couple of business owners with unique products for our market, who quickly signed up.
With applications finalised, we worked around the clock to ensure we were ready for the day!
On the day however we were to discover that a couple of major events, a bike riding event and the Sandringham Festival was to play havoc on the numbers who attended and to our horror it was a quieter market than we expected. We were a bit gutted, especially when a number of the stallholders who did really well last time found it to be a lot quieter. On the other hand we did hear from more than a few stallholders that while they sold less in quantity they did sell some of their more expensive items and so the sales made were quite good. But too many also did not make enough money to justify turning up and this is just not good enough on our part.
We also managed to not get listed in the Leader newspaper and that is a mistake we're not going to let happen again!!
But miraculously, we did notice that there was still a friendly, cheerful environment about and this kept the ambience pleasant. We've to date had better markets each time, and perhaps this market reminds us that we should never take things for granted and not to start thinking we 'know it all'.
For all of you who didn't achieve the sales volumes you hoped for, we sincerely apologise. It was never our intention of course, and we thank you for the continued faith you have with us and we do understand that it is not limitless, so please bear with us. We can make this work.
But it wasn't all bad news, Grumbletumms has one of their best days yet, and several stallholders got cards out and received big orders after, and in some ways, that is a really important point. We love to see our stall holders making good money on the day; but it doesn't have to be just that day! If a brochure, business card or even some marketing material can reach a persons' hand as they walk past your stall, there is always a chance of after market orders! I know at least one stall holder who does most of their sales after the market, and little at the market itself. We think it's possible in most cases to do both.
So now we're powering on again, planning for the Bulleen, Box Hill and Brighton markets!! Then we'll have a well earned rest over the Christmas Season!
On another matter! Remember our Indie Market Place Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Indie-Market-Place/203384406382205?ref=hl. We run an open page! We know we don't own you, or the market world so we encourage anyone, from other markets to other business operators to advertise your business and products on our page. We don't insist on you even being an Indie Market Place member to do so! We see it as a page where many businesses and other markets can advertise too! You run a great market that you think our stallholders like? Put it on our page! Let's give them many choices!
Remember, Indie Market Place's philosophy is to create opportunities for everyone, clients, stall holders and yes, even other market operators. We don't see other market operators as competitors, we believe we can provide a service which complements the many other services out there and are happy to encourage other markets too, especially if it gives greater opportunities to our stall holders. The world is big, the market is big and there is enough for us all!
But that doesn't mean we don't care. When you hire a stall from Indie Market Place, we will always do our best to listen and our best to do the right thing by you. We know we aren't experts, but we will always be willing to learn from you because many of you have seen so many markets that we can learn from you!
Onwards to Bulleen!!!
Indie Market Place, Brighton 12 August 2012
The Brighton Market we approached with some enthusiasm given many of our stallholders expressed a great interest in the area. We originally attempted to hire the Brighton Town Hall but abandoned that effort due to a general lack of interest from the Hall organisers and the spectacular cost of hire. From the beginning, Indie Market Place has always wanted to hire good venues but with an eye on cost because we want our stall holders to have a decent chance at making money.
We instead approached the Brighton Recreational Centre whom we found to be very co-operative and have a bright, cheerful venue with delightfully enthusiastic staff. We discovered as a result of the drop in the cost of the venue we were able to pass some of that on in terms of reduced stall fees.
But the challenge was marketing! Indie Market Place is reasonably well known in Box Hill but would it be well known in Brighton. Additionally with restrictions by the Brighton Council on our ability to place signs like we might at Box Hill, we realised early we'd have to hit the ground running.
Happily we had some unexpected help with the Age deciding to include us in their "What's on" section and it gave us the opportunity to showcase some of our legendary stall holders and introduce them to Brighton. We also managed to get some advertising in the Local Leader paper with our online advertising purchases, but the same old method which worked well in Box Hill was applied again...Yes, we printed 2,500 post card size promotional materials and wore out more shoe leather delivering them by hand.
Why not hire someone to do it? Well, we wanted to make sure they were delivered and we could not be sure that if we subcontracted someone else we wouldn't discover they threw them in the bin instead!
On the day, to our great surprise, it was quite busy, arguably our best market yet. As clients came in and purchased, we did notice that the advertisements in the Age and the hand delivered pamphlets seem to have been a major driver. We also discovered to our surprise the local Brightonians liked to try a range of foods and our friends at Grumbletumms seemed to do well, so well, when my husband went out to get his burger, they sold out and he had to have some wallaby sausage rolls instead, which he judged to be superb! We were worried about the Poffertjes lady who ended up packing up early, so hubby approached with some trepidation, only to find out the reason she was packing up was she ran out of mix and had basically sold out! The same happened with the Cupcakes and the Sausage Sizzle!!
But no market is a market without hiccups! Poor Jason from Jason Hart's Coffee Cart started wheeling his very heavy cart up the ramps and we discovered that we had trouble with opening the door! So Jason was wrestling this massive cart while a committee of us struggled to get it to open! But open it finally did, and then we could get the coffee on the go!! So we had the best coffee in town and the best food!
Sated, the clients wandered in and seemed to do a lot of buying. We had the sweet voice of Laura to soothe them and put them in the mood for buying!
We had the usual mix of outcomes from this market: some stall holders did spectacularly and others not so well. But measuring by the number of smiles on the tired faces of our stallholders, we think the result was probably not too bad. Certainly those who answered our little survey after seemed quite upbeat!
Hubby to his great disappointment, still managed not to get around to everyone but the people he spoke to seemed pretty happy overall.
Brighton is looking like a very friendly home for Indie Market Place!
We instead approached the Brighton Recreational Centre whom we found to be very co-operative and have a bright, cheerful venue with delightfully enthusiastic staff. We discovered as a result of the drop in the cost of the venue we were able to pass some of that on in terms of reduced stall fees.
But the challenge was marketing! Indie Market Place is reasonably well known in Box Hill but would it be well known in Brighton. Additionally with restrictions by the Brighton Council on our ability to place signs like we might at Box Hill, we realised early we'd have to hit the ground running.
Happily we had some unexpected help with the Age deciding to include us in their "What's on" section and it gave us the opportunity to showcase some of our legendary stall holders and introduce them to Brighton. We also managed to get some advertising in the Local Leader paper with our online advertising purchases, but the same old method which worked well in Box Hill was applied again...Yes, we printed 2,500 post card size promotional materials and wore out more shoe leather delivering them by hand.
Why not hire someone to do it? Well, we wanted to make sure they were delivered and we could not be sure that if we subcontracted someone else we wouldn't discover they threw them in the bin instead!
On the day, to our great surprise, it was quite busy, arguably our best market yet. As clients came in and purchased, we did notice that the advertisements in the Age and the hand delivered pamphlets seem to have been a major driver. We also discovered to our surprise the local Brightonians liked to try a range of foods and our friends at Grumbletumms seemed to do well, so well, when my husband went out to get his burger, they sold out and he had to have some wallaby sausage rolls instead, which he judged to be superb! We were worried about the Poffertjes lady who ended up packing up early, so hubby approached with some trepidation, only to find out the reason she was packing up was she ran out of mix and had basically sold out! The same happened with the Cupcakes and the Sausage Sizzle!!
But no market is a market without hiccups! Poor Jason from Jason Hart's Coffee Cart started wheeling his very heavy cart up the ramps and we discovered that we had trouble with opening the door! So Jason was wrestling this massive cart while a committee of us struggled to get it to open! But open it finally did, and then we could get the coffee on the go!! So we had the best coffee in town and the best food!
Sated, the clients wandered in and seemed to do a lot of buying. We had the sweet voice of Laura to soothe them and put them in the mood for buying!
We had the usual mix of outcomes from this market: some stall holders did spectacularly and others not so well. But measuring by the number of smiles on the tired faces of our stallholders, we think the result was probably not too bad. Certainly those who answered our little survey after seemed quite upbeat!
Hubby to his great disappointment, still managed not to get around to everyone but the people he spoke to seemed pretty happy overall.
Brighton is looking like a very friendly home for Indie Market Place!
Monday, 25 June 2012
Indie Market Place, June 23, 2012 Market
We arrived early in the morning to prepare for this market. It was a bitterly cold and overcast day, although our luck continued to hold and it didn't rain the entire time.
It was a very good market on the day with a good attendance rate bearing in mind it was freezing cold. Many times during the day, I wondered how our outdoor stalls were faring given the cold weather, and it would be fair to say, they probably didn't do as well as before.
It was a very good market on the day with a good attendance rate bearing in mind it was freezing cold. Many times during the day, I wondered how our outdoor stalls were faring given the cold weather, and it would be fair to say, they probably didn't do as well as before.
We also took on board many of the excellent words of advice from our stall holders and friends from the last market, in particular, improved signage and attractions for kids. We put more signage out showing people how easy it was to find parking around the back of the hall and also we had a giant jumping castle set up which was very visible from the street.
Many of our indoor stallholders were pleased with the market, traffic was much better than it was for the April market and given the cold weather, and more depressing economic climate, it was a good result. However, I believe we can improve a lot on this and I will be working harder than ever to see if this cannot improve further.
My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you who have gone to extraordinary lengths to help me promote this market.
We also were spoiled with food choices this time; we had the 10/13th Box Hill Scout group fund raise with us with a Sausage Sizzle and it really is hard to describe how wonderfully delicious a simple barbequed sausage is in some bread with some sauce and some fragrant fried onions. But our exotic choices weren't limited with hot chips, spring rolls and our unique Aussie Food, supplied by GrumbleTumms, with such fantastic choices like crocodile, emu and kangaroo pies, burgers and even spring rolls! My husband got stuck into the crocodile burger and judged it the best burger he had ever tasted. As for me, I got stuck into the emu pie and while not normally a fan of pies, this pie was just sensational!
So a quick trip to Mr Quick Whip for soft serve or gelati and dessert is all sorted out. Of course, I did have to think of evening; but with Alberto's delicacies out the the front, I had the choice of sensational pasta's, richly gorgeous sauces and an array of pesto to suit my taste. My choice? The Roast Potato Gnocci with a tub of Arrabiata Sauce and about the only regret I had was I didn't buy more....
Inside, the Coffee was hot and delightful, the cup cakes, absolutely superb (and addictive!) and the music created that serene, happy environment. A huge thank you to Gretta Ziller, Laura Rose Songbird Entertainment and Jeff for making our day and market so special!!
But looks can be deceiving; the market didn't run as smooth as it seemed. When we arrived, we discovered that Rotary had placed one of those huge mobile signs on the lawn advertising their market in July!! Fortunately, there wasn't a stall booked in that location! We will have to ensure communication between the Box Hill Town Hall management and us is improved so that doesn't happen again.
On the other hand, searching for the silver lining, it seems to me, that we should probably do the same thing and have one of those signs up early. It's costly, but if it drives traffic to our stalls......
My husband planned to get around and meet everyone and discovered that instead he was helping sort out a bogged van which took some time to "unbog". Then he discovered that setting up the jumping castle shorted out the power to the food stalls outside, but fortunately Michael and the crew at Box Hill Town Hall were there and when they couldn't find out how to reset the shorted circuit breakers, they came up with an alternative solution and power was restored in a reasonable time to the food vans. Great job!! Finally he discovered a minor medical issue with a visitor to the Art Show which was running next door to the market, but in no time, that was sorted out, and the lady was safely helped to a car and taken home by her friends.
At the end of the day, there seemed to be a lot of happy people, which is a good sign for me and we do have a lot of interest in the August and to my surprise given it is early, the December Market.
But as I always say, not with empty phrases, but with sincerity; none of this would be possible without YOU. I can set up 1,000 markets, but only you, all of you, with your unique talents, great products (many hand made) and services can turn a droll market into that warm place that clients want to come to. I do believe when a client comes to a market and they're happy and feeling good, they are more prepared to open the purse.
So what are some of the lessons learned from this market? Well! More signage!!! We're building up a great inventory of signage as finances allow and these of course can be reused so it is money well spent. We will be also looking to find more coinage to see if we can't get some of those mobile signs out a bit earlier on that busy road. I will also be making sure that I have a better understanding of how much power outdoor stallholders need, so that I don't cause them that power shortage again and finally, I will be making sure that I find out stall holders preferences when it comes to the music. While we all loved the music, some stall holders found they were a little too close...
But the best lesson you all taught me? Even if it is a cold, overcast and breezy day, we can make our own sunshine!!
Many of our indoor stallholders were pleased with the market, traffic was much better than it was for the April market and given the cold weather, and more depressing economic climate, it was a good result. However, I believe we can improve a lot on this and I will be working harder than ever to see if this cannot improve further.
My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you who have gone to extraordinary lengths to help me promote this market.
We also were spoiled with food choices this time; we had the 10/13th Box Hill Scout group fund raise with us with a Sausage Sizzle and it really is hard to describe how wonderfully delicious a simple barbequed sausage is in some bread with some sauce and some fragrant fried onions. But our exotic choices weren't limited with hot chips, spring rolls and our unique Aussie Food, supplied by GrumbleTumms, with such fantastic choices like crocodile, emu and kangaroo pies, burgers and even spring rolls! My husband got stuck into the crocodile burger and judged it the best burger he had ever tasted. As for me, I got stuck into the emu pie and while not normally a fan of pies, this pie was just sensational!
So a quick trip to Mr Quick Whip for soft serve or gelati and dessert is all sorted out. Of course, I did have to think of evening; but with Alberto's delicacies out the the front, I had the choice of sensational pasta's, richly gorgeous sauces and an array of pesto to suit my taste. My choice? The Roast Potato Gnocci with a tub of Arrabiata Sauce and about the only regret I had was I didn't buy more....
Inside, the Coffee was hot and delightful, the cup cakes, absolutely superb (and addictive!) and the music created that serene, happy environment. A huge thank you to Gretta Ziller, Laura Rose Songbird Entertainment and Jeff for making our day and market so special!!
But looks can be deceiving; the market didn't run as smooth as it seemed. When we arrived, we discovered that Rotary had placed one of those huge mobile signs on the lawn advertising their market in July!! Fortunately, there wasn't a stall booked in that location! We will have to ensure communication between the Box Hill Town Hall management and us is improved so that doesn't happen again.
On the other hand, searching for the silver lining, it seems to me, that we should probably do the same thing and have one of those signs up early. It's costly, but if it drives traffic to our stalls......
My husband planned to get around and meet everyone and discovered that instead he was helping sort out a bogged van which took some time to "unbog". Then he discovered that setting up the jumping castle shorted out the power to the food stalls outside, but fortunately Michael and the crew at Box Hill Town Hall were there and when they couldn't find out how to reset the shorted circuit breakers, they came up with an alternative solution and power was restored in a reasonable time to the food vans. Great job!! Finally he discovered a minor medical issue with a visitor to the Art Show which was running next door to the market, but in no time, that was sorted out, and the lady was safely helped to a car and taken home by her friends.
At the end of the day, there seemed to be a lot of happy people, which is a good sign for me and we do have a lot of interest in the August and to my surprise given it is early, the December Market.
So what are some of the lessons learned from this market? Well! More signage!!! We're building up a great inventory of signage as finances allow and these of course can be reused so it is money well spent. We will be also looking to find more coinage to see if we can't get some of those mobile signs out a bit earlier on that busy road. I will also be making sure that I have a better understanding of how much power outdoor stallholders need, so that I don't cause them that power shortage again and finally, I will be making sure that I find out stall holders preferences when it comes to the music. While we all loved the music, some stall holders found they were a little too close...
But the best lesson you all taught me? Even if it is a cold, overcast and breezy day, we can make our own sunshine!!
Monday, 29 August 2011
What is Indie Market Place?
Indie Market Place is conceived with passion and dedication in bringing Small Independent Business Owners, emerging Artists, Makers and Designers to give them an exposure of brand recognition of authentic Australian creations, and Australian ideas to a wider community. A place where there is something for everyone, young and old, and every gender.
One of the primary ideas behind the Indie Market Place was to promote the idea of a warm market place, friendly to buyers and sellers alike. We, also encourage to cross promote other organized market by having a stall with us to promote their coming events.
Orgainse by three dynamic women, who are also creative, and run their online business from home. They saw a gap in the marketplace for a networking, retail & inspirational hub and thought it would be an excellent opportunity to bring alike minded people together.
One of the primary ideas behind the Indie Market Place was to promote the idea of a warm market place, friendly to buyers and sellers alike. We, also encourage to cross promote other organized market by having a stall with us to promote their coming events.
Orgainse by three dynamic women, who are also creative, and run their online business from home. They saw a gap in the marketplace for a networking, retail & inspirational hub and thought it would be an excellent opportunity to bring alike minded people together.
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