Chris Thomas

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 and comfortable.  If you are a new vendor, Sunday is the balance we typically hope to achieve most weeks — crowded enough to be fun and profitable, but relaxed enough that people can stroll and shop.  We don’t want to have crushing crowds all of the time; those are fun, and great buzz, but would ultimately drive our core customers away.

On a related note, our 2012 Vendor Sales have already reached $227,059 as of this weekend!  Considering our first year of management posted total annual sales of just $1 million (which in itself was a record-breaking season), I’m pretty darn happy with the state of the union.

I’ve had a number of vendors indicate that they are looking forward to joining us at the Ringgold Market, which is really terrific news.  I’m still looking for one or two more full-selection produce farms to round out the product mix, but we’re ahead of schedule on our rollout.

See you on Sunday!

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 surprised by the sheer size of the crowds.  It not only was the largest opening day ever, but also the largest market day in our history — that was as good as it’s ever been!  Pretty amazing, and hopefully a sign of good things ahead.

2012, so far:

• 3/24 River Market, $7,800 total sales, $269 sales/vendor avg
• 3/31 River Market, $11,500, $311 avg
• 4/14 River Market, $6,150, $256 avg
• 4/21 River Market, $4,056, $290 avg

The River Market is primarily a tourist-centric market, and thus tends to have strongest sales during the tourist season — Memorial Day through Labor Day.  It’s certainly not bad at the moment, and the weather is milder… just different.

Our Sunday Market is traditionally more oriented towards the locals, although we’ve reached the size where it has become a regional tourist attraction as well.  Our product sales typically favor foods & farms during this portion of the year, but arts/crafts still can do quite well — some days better than others.

 Our average sales for this last weekend were exceptional across the board:

• 4/22 Opening Day, $104,100 total vendor sales!, $609 average sales/vendor!

Simply incredible.  For those that enjoy whacky stats, that amount works out to $5.78 per second! Local really is better!

The product categories which did well were very evenly distributed - everything from art, furniture, concessions, farms, flowers, photography, clothing, jewelry and body care products all posted above-average sales.  Overall, there were no product-specific sales spikes common with some events (like Strawberry Day or Oktoberfest); it was a well-rounded event.

The downside of having crowds that large is that it isn’t necessarily great for casual shopping; to this point, some of our vendors outside did much better than similar vendors inside…  outside was more relaxed!   I expect that we won’t see this size of crowd again for a while, so our more relaxed nature will return - and sales should improve for those products/vendors which benefit from closer vendor/customer interactions.  The crowds are exciting a buzzworthy, but not always the most profitable.

Regardless, it’s nice to start the season with a record breaker!  I look forward to seeing you again this weekend, have a great week!

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 the 2011 season with you.

In 2011:

• we organized sixty-eight distinct events, and held sixty seven (Arts in the Park was flooded out!)
• during those events, our vendors reported record sales of $2,085,849
• average vendor sales, across all markets/events, was $354 per vendor per day
• the worst market day was $78/vendor (a rainy River Market day); the strongest was $935 (Head of the Hooch)

The Top 5 Events, as measured by total vendor sales:

• Oktoberfest
• Mother’s Day
• Strawberry Festival
• Peach Festival
• Opening Day

Vendor sales by major category:

• farms & local food: $797,840
• artisans: $848,996
• concessions: $401,822

Due largely to the River Market and extended Holiday Market season, our artisans took the lead for the first time ever in total sales!   Local food sales continue to improve, and all indicators suggest that the upward trends should continue well into 2012.

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: $66,757 (average vendor sales $473)

A comparison between 2010 and 2011 is somewhat mixed:

• 2010: $120,053 total sales
• 2011: $116,824 total sales

Sunday 2011 was up 10% over last year, but Saturday was down — our concessions/food sales were the primary area of weakness on Saturday.  MAINx24 just around the corner may have had something to do with that; it’s hard to say for certain.

Overall, it was a strong event with several vendors (arts & craftsmen primarily) reporting their strongest sales of the season.  While not entirely unexpected, it’s always nice to hear!

For those of you who will be joining us for the indoor phase of our Holiday Market, I look forward to seeing you on Friday.  If you are hanging up your tent for the winter, I hope you have a terrific holiday season and wish you the warmest thoughts towards a happy and prosperous 2012!

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 strong desire to continue the season as-is and have a strong presence during “Black Friday” weekend. They also liked the chilly end-of-year Holiday Market, and worried that a move might harm one of our best sales days of the year.

I agree.  It took me a few conversations to settle back into the idea, but ultimately the vendor comments were well-considered and persuasive.  Next season will continue at the First Tennessee Pavilion through the first weekend in December (as has been the historical tradition), and we will most likely continue to extend the season indoors afterwards at the Trade Center or similar facility.

Thanksgiving

We’ve had a terrific season, and to celebrate we are going to waive all vendor setup fees this weekend (11/27) to show our appreciation and gratefulness for our vendor community.  You’ll still need to cover your taxes, and we will collect the sales commissions at the end of the day.  So if you are an approved vendor, come out and help us celebrate Shop Local Sunday at the Market this weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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 distractions of school, holidays and weather can’t be ignored forever, and as our fresh produce availability declines so goes our sales.

This weekend posted a sales average of $263/vendor, which is officially the low-mark of the 2011 Sunday Market season.  Gross market sales also were a season low, which is not unexpected.

That’s the bad news; the good news is that when compared to 2010, the sales were actually up 26% — a healthy bump by any measure.  And just around the corner are our Holiday Market(s), which I expect may generate sales of nearly 20% of our overall vendor sales — massive events by any measure.

Which brings me to a potential 2012 change I’ve been pondering for several months, and I would like to hear your feedback on.  Specifically, I’m considering:

• ending the First Tennessee Pavilion season with a two-day Thanksgiving Market finale on November 17-18, 2012
• taking a one-week break over Thanksgiving so that our vendors & staff can spend quality time with family and friends
• launching into our indoor Holiday Markets the following week (beginning in December) to capture as much holiday Local is Better shopping

The shift away from an outdoor Holiday Market is a bit unsettling to me, but after hearing for the last three years how chilly it is I’m starting to consider alternatives.

Along those same lines, I’m also debating the times we’re open during Holiday Market 2012 — Fri/Sat, Sat/Sun or Fri/Sat/Sun?  And what weekends? Traditionally, sales increase the closer we get to Christmas…  and there are four weekends in December where we can attract shoppers.

Lot’s of ideas, no certainty in anything — just open brainstorming.  As only a portion of our vendors read these emails every week (the smarter, better-looking portion!), I would like to hear from you your thoughts on these proposed changes.  Email me at chris.thomas at chattanoogamarket dot org and let me know your thoughts.

Have a great week!

Chris

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 Tennessee River on a bright, sunny afternoon.  It’s simply an amazing sight.

It’s also good for the local economy; I know of several visitors which had to stay in Cleveland because all of the hotels are booked solid with teams and supporting families. 

As an event partner, the Chattanooga Market organizes all of the non-sporting vendors, and this year’s participants generally went home very happy after posting our largest sales averages ever:

• $935 avg sales/vendor [arts & crafts only: $660 avg sales/vendor]

Sunday also enjoyed a perfect day, and we had nice crowds at the Market — but not collegiate athletes and tourists:  $328 avg sales/vendor

Thanks to everyone who came out, and I’ve never been more proud of our terrific market vendors than this weekend — we’ve become an integral part of the Hooch, and represented Chattanooga with quality, style and professionalism.  

Have a great week!

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 one of our largest events of the season — and we’re resting up for the crazy weekend.  Also, Holiday Market Too! is basically sold-out; we need to verify venue capacity, etc. but demand has exceeded supply.  If enough vendors signup on the “wait list”, we’ll expand into the next 24,000 segment - but the four-day registrations have been terrific.

Things to do:

• want a reserved booth? Get the application ASAP from vendors.chattanoogamarket.org
• plan on attending Oktoberfest?  Advance registration & payment is required; you are already late, contact Steve or Paul to make arrangements
• plan on attending Holiday Market Too?  We’re sold out — but signup for the waiting list at holiday.chattanoogamarket.com ASAP

Finally, it might interest you to know that our 2011 vendors have reported sales of $1.45 million so far this season; this is about 100k ahead of 2010, even with our later season start.

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 of our 2011 River Market season, and with the weather improving and Alton Brown’s presence it might be a great finale.  To celebrate the end of a great new market launch, we’re waiving all setup fees this weekend — only the end-of-day sales commissions will be collected (and taxes, which of course are unavoidable).  So come on out and let’s end 2011 with a bang!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be asking Saturday River Market vendors about their thoughts on the 2012 River Market schedule.  We extended the season a bit this year to take advantage of the milder weather, but the economy hasn’t been terrific this Fall… is that reason to slightly shorten 2012?  Let me know how we should schedule our 2012 River Market season to make it even stronger.

Parking

I have an issue.  Your feedback on our paid parking lot was that our customers couldn’t park close enough to shop, and it was costing you business.  So, as a direct result of that feedback, we opened the lot back up except for certain high-traffic days (like this upcoming weekend, and Oktoberfest) where the extra parking fees will help to offset the increased security/safety costs.  

So what’s happened?  The parking lot has filled up quickly — with vendors.  

Reserved Booths

Several vendors are past-due on their reserved booth fees;  those booths will be returned to the available booth pool on 9/26 unless you contact us ASAP and arrange payment. 

Have a good week!