May 2012
3 posts
2 tags
Market Report 5/6
Once again, my apologies for the delay in posting the Market Reports. My home has had ongoing reconstruction activities for the last several weeks due to a water leak, and it’s simply amazing how much time gets destroyed during that process. I can’t imagine how people who lost homes during the tornado’s must feel — devastating, I’m sure.
River Market 5/5: $158 avg...
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Market Report 4/29
It’s Tuesday already?
After approximately 27 event-hours taking place over the weekend, we’re all a bit sluggish in our weekly processing of the reports and prep for the upcoming weekend. So I’m going to keep things brief:
4/28 River Market & Night Market: $374 avg
4/29 Market: $496 avg
The pace of our markets were very enjoyable this weekend, and Sunday felt very normal...
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April 2012
3 posts
3 tags
The Ringgold Market
Last night, the Ringgold City County approved the formation and operation of The Ringgold Market — a cooperative effort between the City of Ringgold and The Chattanooga Market. This new expansion market is intended to help with the post-tornado efforts and help promote economic and community renewal in downtown Ringgold.
This new event is designed to be a farm & food-oriented...
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Market Report 4/22
I’ve been somewhat negligent in my tradition of sharing market reports each week, due to a variety of work and home related disruptions. A lot of good things going, but just not enough time in the day to get everything done as hoped. And for some reason, I think this entire season is going to be that way!
Opening Day went nearly as expected, although I believe we were all very pleasantly...
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River Market 4/14 : Interactive Art Day
Hi River Market Vendors!
We are going to be partnering with the Tennessee Aquarium and HATCH this upcoming weekend, and have been asked to encourage everyone to try to do some form of interactive arts & crafts this upcoming weekend. For example, if you paint - perhaps you could demonstrate your art during the river market hours.
Thanks!
January 2012
1 post
3 tags
2011 Market Report
I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday break; we’re back at work, wrapping up the final details of the 2012 season and preparing for the mad rush of preparing the printed materials, advertising campaigns and other logistics necessary to make our markets seem effortless to our customers.
I always like to look back on the past to see how we’re doing, and wanted to share a recap of...
December 2011
6 posts
Holiday Market Too! (final)
With the final weekend of the season behind us, it’s time to relax and enjoy the calmer weekends… it’s been a fun year, and 2012 looks to be even better.
Our Holiday Markets were solid this season, with combined three-weekend sales of over $254 thousand dollars!
Holiday Market: $120,920
Holiday Market Too!: $133,853
We’re still waiting on one or two missing sales...
Holiday Hours
After the final weekend of the Holiday Market Too!, we plan on taking some time off. Our offices will be closed from Wednesday, December 21 until Monday, January 9.
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
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twitter.com/chattamarket/lists
I know that many of our vendors are using Facebook, twitter, Google+, etc. to communicate and promote their businesses/activities with the world. I first joined twitter during SxSW several years ago (when it first launched), and it’s taken me several years to figure out what it’s really good for.
Actually, I’m still working on that.
But I’m making headway. One new...
Holiday Market Too! [week one]
Our first season at the Chattanooga Convention Center with our indoor Holiday Market is off to a reasonable start. It’s nice being warm and dry, and after some initial setup goofs (I’ve always been measurement challenged), things settled into a good vibe.
Friday wasn’t as well-attended as we would have liked, which discounts the demand for downtown business workers’ need...
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Holiday Market Report 12/4
For the first time in several years, I wasn’t frozen to the core by the time we broke down Sunday evening after our two-day Holiday Market event. This weekend offered favorable weather, sunshine and nice crowds — and I really didn’t miss the subfreezing temperatures we’ve come to expect.
Sales were good, too:
Saturday: $50,067 (average vendor sales $365)
Sunday:...
November 2011
7 posts
Market Report 11/27
Well, it was sure nice to see everyone this weekend.
That’s the happy commentary to an otherwise wet & dreary event — our first real rainout this season. Vendor sales were the low-point of the season, with average sales of $171/vendor. It wasn’t our strong-point.
But frankly, this particular weekend has always been weak — even our strongest and most loyal...
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Market Report 11/20
Sales this weekend were better than expected, as shoppers have started to prepare towards the holidays a bit early this year. Average vendor sales were $287/vendor, which is not bad considering most of our farms have wrapped up their seasons.
I received a lot of good emails from people regarding the open discussion on 2012’s end-of-season schedule; in short, most everyone expressed a...
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Market Report 11/13 & 2012
Hello? Is this thing on? Test, test…
Hello! My name is Chris, and I’m happy to be here today to share with you the past weekend, the upcoming weekend and even 2012. Thanks for reading my article.
With November comes a seasonal decline in sales, which fortunately has started much later over the last few years (the trend began in September just a few years ago). But the...
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Market Report 11/6
What a terrific weekend — if you can find any fault in the weather, you must have been out of town; Chattanooga enjoyed an ideal setting to host the Head of the Hooch this weekend!
I’m quick to share that the Hooch is perhaps my favorite event of the season; nothing else makes Chattanooga shine like two thousand boats on the water and thousands of competitors racing along the...
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Head of the Hooch
The Head of the Hooch is this weekend, and is one of the coolest events Chattanooga has ever hosted; if you haven’t attended, you should — it’s terrific.
For those of you who are vending this year:
load-in on Friday from noon until 8pm; early is better
vehicle entry is from the Hunter Museum side; Steve and I will be onsite to identify your booth location and help you get...
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October 2011
11 posts
2 tags
The Haunted Market
Oktoberfest Report 10/22-23
Perfect weather and strong crowds helped our 10th Annual Chattanooga Oktoberfest to post our strongest results of the season, and in fact the strongest results of our Market’s history:
Saturday: $369 avg sales/vendor
Sunday: $512 avg sales/vendor
[averages excluded beer sales and proceeds from the charitable activities]
Saturday posted solid market numbers, which is fairly remarkable as...
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Market Report 10/16
While not an overwhelming weekend, Sunday’s Market posted an average vendor sales report of $350 — we’ve seen better, and we’ve seen worse. There were no less than a half-dozen other festivals and events taking place around the region, too, so some softness was expected.
This upcoming weekend is a different story, and will most likely post our largest total sales figures...
New Vendor Applications
This season, we’ve seen an incredible surge in new vendor applications — over 500 have been received this year alone. While this in itself is not a problem, we’ve noticed a disturbing trend of vendors who, once approved, fail to attend a new vendor orientation — or actually vend at one of our markets.
In order to improve the quality of our new vendor applicants (serious...
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Market Report 10/9
This weekend was a bit softer than what has been our norm, although we’re significantly ahead of past seasons — so it’s all a bit of a apples-to-oranges comparison. Regardless, our vendors sold on average $404 of services & merchandise this weakend — above the four-zero-zero watermark that defines a pretty darn good day.
Oktoberfest is just around the corner, which is...
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Watchchattanoogaoktoberfest: Chattanooga Oktoberfest!
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Reserved Booth Applications
The application for Reserved Booths has been updated, and is now published online at http://vendors.chattanoogamarket.org/reference
Instructions
Read rules & fees for reserved booths on vendors.chattanoogamarket.org
Only Full Vendors are eligible to apply for a reserved booth
Select booths you would like to occupy; only identified booths are available
Farms (seasonal/fresh produce) are...
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Online Payments for Vendor Fees!
Our accounting provider has added a terrific new feature — invoices can now be paid online at no cost to you! This is really cool, as it will save you the stamp or check and hopefully will dramatically cut down on the amount of time we spend shuffling paperwork around our desks.
If you receive an invoice from us via email, there will now be a link towards the top of the message which will...
Market Report 10/2
The sales reports for October 2 were strong, with an average $464 per vendor reported, placing it in the #5 spot for the year. Not only was it a terrific event, but the weather was absolutely perfect.
Have a great week
Market Report 10/2 (delayed)
Sorry folks, but the stats & related glimpses of sales data from this last week are going to be slightly delayed due to a variety of external interruptions. I’ll try to post the results ASAP; visit http://chris.chattanoogamarket.com later in the week if you like.
Overall, this weekend was fun but chilly! I’m in the process of attempting to upload a iPhone video from the event,...
September 2011
9 posts
2 tags
Code of Conduct
Be advised that our Vendor Rules have been revised effective immediately:
The Chattanooga Market operates under an honor system, and we expect all of our vendors to adhere to a strict code of conduct, honor and integrity.
In order to become and maintain vendor eligibility, all vendors must agree to the following:
conduct business in an honest and truthful manner
demonstrate integrity with...
1 tag
Market Report 9/25
Our Cast Iron Cookoff with guest Chef Alton Brown was a lot of fun, and had a nice turnout. We learned a few things in the process, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I thoroughly enjoyed sampling some of the finest creations Chattanooga has to offer — all featuring ingredients sourced from our market vendors.
Sales were solid, too: $430 avg sales/vendor. Total Market Sales were...
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Holiday Market Too!
A quick update on Holiday Market Too (the indoor portion of our December Holiday Markets):
The event is almost sold out
Now, to be fair, there is still plenty of space remaining in the convention center… but the largest room (36,000 sq ft) is nearing capacity, and I’m not certain if there is sufficient vendor interest to warrant the next 24,000 sq ft block.
So here’s how...
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Market Report 9/18
Sunday hosted the return of our annual Kickin’ Chicken event to the Market, and the weather was absolutely perfect — it was a beautiful day. It was also one of the most successful markets of the season, ranking #6 on the 2011 chart of Highest Average Vendor Sales:
Sunday: $452 avg sales/vendor
Saturday: $245 avg sales/vendor
River Market
This upcoming Saturday (9/23) marks the end...
Reserved Booths - Fall Allocation
In October, we will begin the process of accepting applications for Reserved Booths and awarding available locations to vendors based on their Vendor Priority Point level. As a number of Reserved Booths have become available over the course of the season, we are currently updating the application to reflect which spots will be available for selection.
There will also be an option for existing...
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Market Report 9/11
I missed my first (only) Market of the season this weekend, but only because I had another 9/11 event at the amphitheater that evening. Still, I felt out of place — I wanted to spend the day with my friends & family.
I was in the WTC a few years before the attack, having been a speaker at a conference in the hotel/convention center adjacent to the property. Being in a relatively...
3 tags
Market Report 9/4
My apologies for running late on this weekend’s report:
$326 avg sales/vendor (Saturday)
$450 avg sales/vendor (Sunday)
It was a solid weekend, with the exception of Monday which turned into an underwater arts festival. Sales were up across the board, with a lot of tourists & family-time spent out-and-around the town.
Holiday Market Too!
Our indoor Holiday Market is proceeding...
August 2011
9 posts
3 tags
Market Report 8/28
Where to begin?
Bluegrass Day was fun, and featured some great music — if you like bluegrass. Slim Pickin’s always draws a crowd, and I caught by first ‘Strung like a Horse’ show (great band!) Bluegrass Pharaohs, stuck in the middle, also performed a variety of crowd favorites. A lot of first-timers joined us this week, as our “where’s the bathroom”...
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Market Report 8/21
It’s 8:30pm on Tuesday, and I’m just now getting around to writing this… a lot of good things are on the horizon; just not enough hours in the day!
First, this weekend: decidedly mixed, with arts & crafts having a particularly rough day on Sunday:
River Market: $227/avg sales
Sunday Market: $406/avg sales
Normally, $400+ is a pretty good sales figure for Sunday…...
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Holiday Market Website →
Here’s a sneak-preview of our new Holiday Market website at holiday.chattanoogamarket.com! More content will be added over the next several weeks, but we’ve activated the online application for the expanded indoor market. With over 100,00 sq ft to fill, I wanted to get a head start on things!
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Market Report 8/14
The weather has finally started to cool, and I must admit that I’m loving it! This summer has been a hot one, and I am definitely enjoying the milder days.
As always, our Five Star Food Fight was a fun event which attracted the foodies out to the Market; congrats to Chef Wolfgang Poe for winning this year’s event, although the results were incredibly close — all of the...
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Market Report 8/7
The last few days have been interesting, both close to home and around the world. On the Market front, we posted record revenues of $2,000,000,048,476 during our Local Food Day/National Farmers Market Week weekend. I might be off by a couple of trillion dollars, but the point is that we are (thankfully) just not seeing the dramatic dips of an imminent recession that were (now) obvious in the...
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Market Report 7/31
Although we need the rain, our Saturday vendors would prefer for them to be scheduled on Mondays… I’m good with that. For the most part, our River Market was a washout this weekend — except for one vendor who posted amazing sales (congrats!)
The heat remained a factor on Sunday, and ice cream only partially cooled the experience. Several vendors inquired as to the status of...
July 2011
13 posts
1 tag
