First of all I want to thank you. You know who you are the people that have made our Saturdays the incredible success that they have become. When I took over management of the market I always dreamed of having a dynamic urban market that we see in other cities across the country. At that time we were still struggling to get Saturdays consistently strong and boy have we come a long way.
With Saturdays booming the timing could not have been better to try a second day. It took a massive amount of lobbying for the vendors to agree to open a second day. Some vendors could not do it. So what were we to do, we had to have everyone here for the second day as it wouldn’t be the market that everyone had come to love with half the vendors not here. Let me tell you I have not been the most popular person around the building lately as I have asked everyone to participate.
So here we are and this is were I am humbly asking for your help. We have been open for two Thursdays now and that customer traffic has been low. I really didn`t expect to hit one out of the park at the first up to bat but was hoping for enough volume to assure people that we were going the right direction. Now there is quite a mix of vendors in here. Some that are hard scramble entrepreneurs who have the determination to make a go of second day regardless how long it takes and some that are reluctantly participating due to either family, financial, or other commitments. The overall confidence and determination among some vendors is flagging and I am worried that it will fall apart before we get it off the ground.
The reason why I am asking for your help and support is that London deserves a good old fashioned, affordable, clean, local and independent market that offers greater access than one day. The fact that we are situated in the Old East Village community that does not have a grocery store of their own makes it all the more important. If we can not get encouraging customer flows for Thursday I am worried that we will not be able to continue even though many customers and vendors really hope for this. I have temporary commitment from the vendors to support us until April 14th to see and evaluate how it is going but each slow week presents challenges for some vendors.
So I am hoping with your support we can encourage the vendors whose determination maybe flagging and show them that yes, London wants a dynamic food market where up and coming food artisans and small businesses have a place to call their own and a place to interact with the community.
