Hi Y’all!
Meet us at the Flea, it’s goinn downnn!
We have officially vended at Black Market Flea (BMF) in South Central Los Angeles twice now. If you don’t know, BMF is an immersive cultural hub for Black creators, makers, artisans and entertainers that occurs monthly in Los Angeles - typically taking place at the Beehive (an outdoor/indoor venue located in South Central LA). As an attendee of BMF, you can expect over 200 Black-owned vendors wrapped around the space with unique offerings from hand-made crochet accessories and streetwear clothing to live paintings and children’s books with Black illustrations. There’s something for everyone at the Flea. Including live DJs, food trucks, bars and a vibrant community of beautiful folks.
Our first time vending at BMF was this summer in July. We’ve attended their events as “market research” and wanted to participate as a vendor when the time was right. This July we were selected as a vendor and we opted for an indoor space thinking that it would shield us from the Summer heat. Boy, were we wrong! The indoor venue space was hotter than outside *How Sway* Either way, we were excited to be in the building. As first-timers, we didn’t have the best set-up and we had limited offerings. Luckily, we used the experience to build our brand and learn what works and what doesn’t work. We only sold 5 items that day. But we had a game plan for our next BMF experience.
In September, we were back at the Flea and this time we had clearer brand recognition. We ordered a beautiful banner with our logo, tagline and a promo picture. We had stickers to giveaway with our business name printed on them. And a more welcoming ambiance. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a huge improvement from our last time. We also decided to select an outdoor booth. These changes proved to work. The September market turnout was considerably lower from the July market due to the light rain and chilly weather this go round. Even with a smaller crowd, our new and improved booth and outdoor placement allowed a higher engagement and sales for our company. We were elated to have many people stop by our booth to compliment our products, ask more about our brand and purchase our items.
We’re still learning and growing. We have plans to make the next time an even better experience for our company and our customers.
Thank you for reading. Let us know you were here by dropping a comment or message :)
Help us grow! Have you been to BMF or a similar market? What makes you stop at a booth? Do you prefer when the company engages with you first or wait until you express interest in a particular product? How much would you typically spend at a market?
xo
TCN Crew