Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: market demographics

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Jill Taylor Bussiere" <jdt AT itol.com>
  • To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: market demographics
  • Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 05:08:05 -0500


I would agree with you, Del, about each area having its own demographics.

Your best bet would be to find a tool that would help you determine what
yours are. If you have a county extension agent, and he/she is a good one,
you might get some help there. A survey is another route you could go - at
least with the locals, but costs some money.

Our area is full of grow-your-own gardens, our county is high in elderly,
and we also have a stream of tourists traveling through to get to the county
north of us who sometimes stop at our market. We also have some middle-aged
professionals/business owners that buy. All are very different groups of
people. We need them all to make our market go, I believe.

Jill
----- Original Message -----
From: delannw <delannw AT dlogue.net>
To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2000 4:58 AM
Subject: Re: market demographics


> While there are probably studies out there, be careful about using market
> demographics for a location that is not similar to your own. If I were
> selling in downtown Chicago, wouldn't that demographic be somewhat
different
> than the demographic for the smaller towns?
>
> I sell in a small city, in the downtown area. The city, Kankakee, is
> situated closely to two other towns...Bradley and Bourbonnais. Each town
is
> a bit different but they are so close geographically...they practically
melt
> into eachother at the edges.
>
> For what it is worth, I notice that at our Saturday morning market (7AM -
> 1PM) the customers differ as the morning progresses. At 7AM, the
customers
> are 60 - 80 years old...waiting already at 6:30AM. By 9AM the customers
get
> a bit younger...40's, 50's, and by 10AM we start seeing families with
> children. By 11AM the 20's and 30's start showing up.
> Between 12 - 1 there just aren't that many customers.
>
> I would also guess that we have only slightly more women shopping than men
> in all age groups except the oldest...where you would expect to see more
> women anyway.
>
> Funny thing is, I am able to sell produce and herbs at a fair price in the
> Kankakee area...where there are six or more large grocery stores and three
> or four large market stands to compete against. As it turns out, though,
I
> sell 10 times as much in Kankakee (at fair market price) than I did
selling
> 30 miles south in a town with only two grocery stores and one farm stand.
> Why? Because 30 miles south most people grow their own...and they still
> think a bushel of tomatoes is worth about $8.
>
> I point that out, because basic demographics may be less important than
the
> characteristics of the area.
>
> One of these days, I'm going to get a battery powered cash register
instead
> of this stupid calculator with a tape that I currently have. I think it
> would be interesting to know what the average customer spends at my stand
> and what THEIR demographics are.
>
> Del Williams
> Farmer in the Del
> Clifton IL
>
>
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to market-farming as: jdt AT itol.com
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
$subst('Email.Unsub')
> To subscribe send email to lyris AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
> with message text containing: subscribe market-farming <your name>
>





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page