Thinking About Starting a Winter Farmers Market? Here’s What to Plan First.
Start here Before starting a winter farmers market, plan four things first: whether you have enough vendors with winter product, a venue that works in the cold, a schedule shoppers can count on, and a fee structure that makes sense for a shorter, slower season. Get those right and everything else (floor plans, marketing, market-day […]
What is the Best Vendor Management Software for Markets and Pop-Up Events?
The best vendor management software for markets and pop-up events handles six things well: event and series setup, vendor applications and approvals, booth and floor-plan management, payments and payouts, event-day operations, and reporting — all in one place, priced in a way that doesn’t punish you for growing. Here’s what to actually look for in […]
Market Vendor Management Software: What It Actually Replaces, Task by Task
Market vendor management software replaces the spreadsheets, inboxes, payment apps, and paper booth maps that market organizers use to run their vendors. It puts vendor applications, approvals, fees, booth assignments, and event-day details in one connected system. If you’ve been running your market on a spreadsheet, a Google Form, and a lot of email, that’s […]
A Smarter Way to Manage Vendor Insurance For Your Market is Here
If vendor insurance is part of your event requirements, you know the drill. One vendor already has coverage. Another needs to get it. Someone emailed you a COI three weeks ago. Someone else swears they sent theirs. And suddenly you’re digging through your inbox trying to figure out who’s actually ready for event day. We […]
How to Manage Vendor Insurance Requirements Without Chasing a Single COI
It’s ten days before market day and you’re staring at a spreadsheet with three columns you dread: “Has COI,” “Needs COI,” and the honest one, “No idea.” If that sounds familiar, you’re not disorganized… you’re just doing a job that was never built for one person to track alone. Vendor insurance requirements rarely get the […]
What a Market Season Looks Like When You’re Not Doing Everything by Hand
Picture this… it’s Saturday morning and your market opens in a few hours. You got here early, but you still feel a sense of impending doom. You down a few energy drinks because you barely got a wink of sleep last night and you have nothing but your anxious thoughts to thank for that. By […]
The Farmers Market Manager’s Friday Night Spiral (And how to Break the Cycle)
It’s 11 pm on a Friday. Tomorrow is market day. You’re lying awake in bed, unable to sleep, running through a mental checklist regarding tomorrow’s market day. Did Luisa confirm her booth change? Are your vendors aware of what time they’re supposed to arrive at the market tomorrow? Did you actually remember to tell Sam […]
Hot Take: Farmers Markets aren’t just Retail. They’re Infrastructure.
When most people think about farmers markets, their minds go straight to the products they can purchase there. They may associate their neighborhood market with fresh produce right from the source, homemade baked goods, or hand-poured candles. There is nothing wrong with that association. After all, a farmers market is genuinely one of the best […]
What It Actually Costs to Run a Weekly Market
Every Saturday morning, members of your community wake up with a specific goal in mind: a visit to their local farmers market. No one can blame them… it’s the perfect start to a relaxing weekend after a long week of work. Fresh produce, handmade jewelry, baked goods, and bright bouquets of flowers draw a wide […]
How to Optimize Your Farmers Market Booth Layout for Better Foot Traffic (Whatever Shape You’re Working With)
It’s 7:45 on a Saturday morning. Your vendors are set up, the coffee is hot, and shoppers are already trickling through the gate. Everything looks great, until you notice what always happens: they walk straight through, buy from the two or three booths they already know, and leave in under 20 minutes. It doesn’t matter […]