If you want to set yourself apart as a market (or even a store) you have to bring the WOW factor. You want to make sure your shoppers’ entire experience is a good one. We recently covered our tips for starting a market. Today I’m covering more tips for your market that you shouldn’t overlook or forget about.
Know Your Venue
You should know where traffic comes in and out at: cars into a lot and foot traffic onto your market.
If your venue is outside, make sure vendor spaces are on level ground or not were water pools if it were to rain.
You also need to know a route or plan for allowing vendors to set up. Will they be able to drive right in front of their space? Will they need to bring their items from the parking lot? You’ll also need to take into consideration how long the setup and teardown process will be depending on how many vendors you have.
Public Safety
I know we briefly covered this one previously, but you’re responsible for the safety of your guests and vendors. If something unexpected were to happen, let’s say a fire for instance, where do people exit?
Know how close an ambulance is to your venue in case one were to be needed. If you’re 15+ minutes away from one, think about hiring an ambulance service.
Depending on the size of your market, hire law enforcement to work our event. Do you need to hire people to direct traffic?
Your staff and you should have a radio to communicate with each other. Have a public safety plan that covers health issues, missing children, lost items and accidents.
The Rules of Your Event
You should’ve already sent your vendors your rules when they were accepted to your event. Resend your rules and instructions to your vendors a few days prior to the event. Keep copies on hand in case a vendor needs them the day of your event.
Comfortability
Have adequate restroom facilities, resting places, and food vendors. You want shoppers spending as much time as possible at the venue. They get hungry and tired. As producers we are responsible for creating a pleasant environment for both vendors and shoppers.
Physical Appearance
You are responsible for the physical appearance of your event or mall. Make it inviting for customers. You must create the style and vision of your market. If you create a beautiful infrastructure, you will attract better vendors and better shoppers.
A lot of the information covered is also beneficial to the store owners of co-op stores as well. As a store owner, when it comes to your physical store, you should know your store, have rules for your vendors, have an inviting atmosphere, and you should have a safety plan in place in case of an emergency.
Did we miss anything? For those of you who are booth owners, what are some things that you look for when looking for a festival or market to apply to?