It has been over a week since our first market at Kirkstall Deli and the dust has settled a little bit. Time to reflect on the experience and to share some images with you!
THE PREPARATION
We met at around 9:30 on Saturday March 26th to finalise the preparations for the stall: writing the hand crafted chalk boards, cutting the pricing sheets to size and, mainly, loading my little car! It was jam packed but we got it all in!
We arrived at Kirkstall Abbey around 10:30am to build and decorate our stall. We had had a practise run at Saskia’s a few weeks earlier, so we knew what we wanted it to look like. The wind was a challenge, but we had it all set up soon and by noon were ready to trade – both admittedly feeling quite nervous. If you really want to know, it felt like the nervous excitement of a first day at school. That all burning question: Will anyone like us?
THE CROWD
From about 1pm people really started to show an interest in us and our products. We had baked some Easter themed butter biscuits we gave out to children for free. Which parents really seemed to appreciate. Adults could sample our apple pies and jam, vanilla and Florentine biscuits. And we have to say there is nothing like seeing people enjoy what you have taken to market! For the past three months, Saskia and I have lovingly perfected our biscuits and pies. We tried to build something that we hoped people would like. The thrill of seeing people love what we produced is really humbling.
We felt very blessed that so many of our friends and family came to support us on this special day and loved having them there to witness the launch of Bloom Bakers! Another huge thanks to everyone who could make it, it meant the world!
Before we knew it time was over, 3pm! Wow, time really does fly when you are having fun! We really enjoyed our first market and had a great time getting to know some of the other traders such as Mina from Msitu and our neighbours from NFV Curry Club. People who sampled out treats gave us great feedback which is all we wanted. It felt so good to share the love and passion for our products.
THE LEARNINGS
We also took some initial learnings from it. Kirkstall Deli Market first and foremost is a food market. People go there to eat rather than shop. Brilliant! Now that we know this we will give you something to munch on next time, on the spot as well as the options to buy treats for later or as a gift. So watch this space for additions to our market offering!
Thank you Leeds and see you again soon, we’ll be back at Kirkstall Deli Market on April 30th!
