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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] making football season an asset to farmers' marke t

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  • From: "cjmaness AT juno.com" <cjmaness AT juno.com>
  • To: castens AT peoplepc.com, market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] making football season an asset to farmers' marke t
  • Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:08:27 GMT

Our market is in Stillwater, Oklahoma. We have a population a little closer to 50,000, which doubles or triples during home football games. Game days don't affect us too much. Our market is located very close to the football stadium (within walking distance) but most of our customers will come very early on game days to avoid the rush. Most home games start at either 1:00 pm, or 6:00 pm. The 6:00 games don't affect us at all. The earlier ones do slightly. We have fans parking in our lot and the customers can't. We also have the tailgaters setting up in our area as well. The market closes at 1:00, so there is a little overlap of fans and market people, but not too much. Sales may drop slightly, but it isn't much. We do get a lot of new people walking through and looking. That part is an asset. They might not buy anything that day, but they remember us, and we have had some of them come back another Saturday.

The one market day that a home game ruins is homecoming. OSU has a big homecoming parade, right on main street which is the entrance to our market. Main street is closed down, the entrance to our market is blocked and for several hours we just sit there and watch the parade. There is a back entrance to the market, but the traffic there makes it impossible to get in, or out. We just anticipate it will be a slow day, and live with it. Our market closes the last Saturday in October and the homecoming games is a week or two before that date. Some of our die hard customers will get out early, before the parade to do their shopping and a few will brave the traffic, but for the most part that is our slowest market day of the season.

We've contemplated moving the market for that one day, but how do you let all your customers know? The worse thing that could happen is to have the regulars show up, and no one is there. They would think we had closed the market a few weeks early or something. We've also considered moving the market to a different location entirely. But, we have the perfect spot right now. We're sort of on the main drag of Stillwater. Very close to the university, and all the restaurants and shopping. We have electricity, water, restrooms.

I too, would be interested in hearing from others in college towns, and how game days affect their outcome.

Carla




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