Farmers markets a hopeful channel for local business
Karl Hale of Hale Kinetics shows one of his products to a customer at the Provo Farmers Market on Saturday
, June 10, 2017
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Dan Jackman and daughter Shayley Jackman of Cedar Valley Honey pose for a portrait in the booth at the Provo Farmers Market on Saturday, June 10, 2017.
Hale Kinetics products by Karl Hale on display at the Provo Farmers Market on Saturday, June 10, 2017.
Hale Kinetics products by Karl Hale on display at the Provo Farmers Market on Saturday
, June 10, 2017
.
Hale Kinetics products by Karl Hale on display at the Provo Farmers Market on Saturday, June 10, 2017.
There is a theme of hope running through most local farmers markets.
Customers stroll the booths with eager anticipation of finding something unique and new that becomes an essential. Vendors sacrifice Saturday morning sleep and activities optimistically yearning for sales. Some of those vendors even hope that those weekends will eventually turn into sustainable day jobs.
Mapleton resident Karl Hale is one of those hopeful vendors. He and his daughter, Minnie, manned his Hale Kinetics booth Saturday at the Provo Farmers Market, with the goal to sell his carved wooden plaques. Hale is an artist at heart — one of his pieces is currently on display in the Springville Art Museum’s Spring Salon — but he’s a businessman in mind.
“I would like to do this full time,” Hale said, framed by lacquered wood items artistically depicting famous maxims. “But I have not successfully cracked that nut yet.”
Hale has been testing products at the Provo Farmers Market for two weeks so far. He’s got a variety of inspirational, patriotic and religious saying carved in wood, and he’s testing the market to see what sells. His products, from intricately carved wood sculptures to the Computer Numerical Control, or CNC, etched plaques hung from the booth walls Saturday, have evolved over the years.
“I’m trying to make a business, trying to find a product that can sell,” he said. “I’m trying to make something that actually draws in customers — something artistic to compete with mass production outlets.”
Hale is marketing his work online as well, and exploring other local retail and sales options to grow his business.
Dan Jackman of Cedar Valley Honey has been a regular at the Provo Farmers Market since 2012, and he’s seen vendors struggle to find a market for their wares. He’s also seen many go on to successful businesses.
“It’s an easy way to get your product out, to get feedback on what you are doing right,” he said of farmers markets. “There have been several vendors that have come here and went on to start food trucks and restaurants.”
Jackman, a Cedar Fort resident, is a security officer by day and beekeeper of 90 hives by nights and weekends. His honey business is a side gig, and he likes it that way. It’s a hobby he and his family enjoy doing, which is also another income stream. For him, the farmers market is just one of the channels for getting his raw local honey into customers’ hands and bellies.
Good farmers markets create a unique experience for customers, but also create a regular consumer base, and tapping into that is what keeps Hale — and the many other clothing, food, toys and jewelry vendors — hopeful. Even though it’s a side business, it also keeps Jackman coming back every weekend.
“Farmers markets are fun. A lot of the vendors, and many customers, we see every week. It’s enjoyable,” Jackman said.
There are multiple farmers markets around Utah County. To find one nearby, visit the Daily Herald’s online calendar section.