Fenton Street Market Opening Day 2014
After 14 months of hard work being put into Sotare, and at least four weeks of my nights and weekends dedicated to the Sotare booth it was finally time for market day!
My brothers, Aaron and Matt, met me at my apartment at 6:45 am. We loaded up the merchandise quickly and then set out on the road. It only took a little over an hour to get to Veteran’s Plaza in Silver Springs, MD. We probably got there around 8:10.
With three people, the set up time was ridiculously fast. We were all set up and ready to go by 8:50! That left us an hour and 10 minutes to grab breakfast, go over how to take credit cards, add finishing touches on the display, and just chill.
The market opened at 10:00, but we didn’t get our first sale until closer to 11:00 Sales were a little slower than I had hoped, but being our first day at this market (and our first day at any market) we did pretty good. I think things will continue to improve as more and more people become familiar with the art brand.
There were quite a few people who were really stoked on Sotare! It was great explaining the ethos behind the brand, talking to fellow artists about the techniques used to design the pieces, and just to hear feedback about what people liked and products they would like to see.
It was also great to talk to the other vendors, see their art, and just take in the new experience. I was hoping to get more photos, but there was enough to do already just running the booth. I didn‘t notice until later on that a bunch of my photos were terribly overexposed because I took them without paying attention to my settings. Next time there will be better pictures!
Here’s a quick peek at our 2014 market schedule:
5/10 Fenton Street Market
6/14 Fenton Street Market
7/5 DC Meet Market
7/19 Fenton Street Market
8/16 Fenton Street Market
9/13 Fenton Street Market
10/18 Fenton Street Market
More dates may be added in the future, so make sure you follow our Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date!
Leaping forward,
Adrian Black