2022 Market Reports

Friday - The last Friday at Guildford brings some good sales, especially upstairs. 

It was a freezing cold morning and there were few people on the High Street at the start of the event. Setting up was easy, as it normally is on a Friday with no time restrictions to meet except to be ready for 10am. Most stallholders knew that once they were set up today they wouldn’t have to take down anything for the next 3 days ….. a stallholder’s delight. It was again surprising today to see how many young people there were coming into the event, crafts really seem to be a hit with younger people now and they are not afraid to come into our events especially because it’s now trendy. With Christmas elf outfit on and an elf hat to keep warm, our Mynt Image team member managed to attract 1087 customers into the event, a very respectable figure for a Friday. 

We had several new stallholders with us today, but mostly established experienced stallholders who know Guildford well. If you are good at selling at Guildford, then you can do very well, so it was good to see some new stallholders take in excess of £200 at their first events. What was especially good to see today was the upstairs sales …. Every stallholder achieved £300+ upstairs and they all asked if they could continue being upstairs. One author, travelling all the way from Bath had an amazing day selling 29 historical novels and has already booked for 2023.The upstairs atmosphere at Guildford can be cosy and unrushed and customers were buying from each stall in turn and often spending a lengthy time upstairs. Stallholders downstairs had more variable results though once again some stallholders were very pleased with their sales. Predictably it was mostly smaller items, last minute gifts, which were selling best. Today certainly proved beyond doubt that it cn be worth trying a Friday at Guildford at this time of year 

Saturday - A strangely quiet start to the day, but made up for by a busy afternoon 

This was the final day that was predicted to be cold and frosty at Guildford before the big thaw started on Sunday. With just 7 stallholders to arrive and set up, due to many stallholders staying put for the entire 3 days of the weekend, set up was again easy despite the pressure for stallholders to be off the road by 9am. The Mynt Image team worked hard to attract customers but the streets were strangely empty and those shopping seemed to be on an absolute mission for specific shops and specific items It is often a slight gamble this close to Christmas, but Guildford is usually the event that performs well this close to Christmas. Suddenly after lunch the customers started to flow into the event with increased momentum. At times there were queues to get into the Guildhall and sales started to rise due to the sheer volume of people. By the end of the day we had managed to attract 1464 customers into the event.

Spending to day started off slowly but grew as numbers of customers grew. One jeweller made sales in excess of £700 and had a great day. Another stallholder selling scarves, socks and jewellery also had a really good day selling smaller items and a stallholder selling wooden trivets and clocks reported that his day had been good. Again upstairs did really well with an artist achieving sales of over £500 and a lady selling woolen hats and scarves achieving record sales of over £900. Upstairs sales once again seemed to be over £300, demonstrating just how good this area can be. At the end of the event, only 3 stallholders packed up, the others staying for the 3rd day Sunday 18th December, the end of our 2022 season 

This may well have been our last day with Jack as a helper because he is moving out of the area. Thank you Jack for your assistance over the last few years, it has been much appreciated by both ourselves and our stallholders. 

Sunday - Our final event at Guildford this year and for 2022 turns out to be a little disappointing. 

What a change to the weather !!…. Crisp cold days had given way to a chilly wet day right from the start with up to a months rain forecast for the next 2 days! It drizzled and rained all day, making it quite a miserable day. There were customers around but most were scurrying around to keep dry. A few excellent buskers drew people well into the Tuns gate area where we directed them into the Guild Hall. The change in weather was a complete shock to most and then with the world Cup Final on at 3pm, the streets were quiet for a lot of the day. This final Sunday in 2021 drew almost 2000 customers into the Guild Hall event, whereas today we only managed to scrape 1053 

During the first hour sales were excellent and we were quite excited for the day. If I knew why customers stopped buying I would be a rich man, it just seemed like between 12.00 and 3.00 customers were coming into the event just to keep dry and had little thought of buying. Then at 3.00pm sales started to mount again with one customer spending 45 minutes at 2 separate stalls and buying. Sales were reasonable today, but greatly affected by the weather and overall quite disappointing. Soe stallholders did continue to do well with jewellery continuing tos ell well and candle sales being also good. An artist sold over £300 as again did most upstairs stalls including the lady selling knitwear who had done so well on Saturday. 

Overall this was a good weekend for the stallholders who stayed at the event for the entire 3 days. Several stallholders sold in excess of £2000 for the weekend, though only one achieved nearly £3000. Sales were down on the previous year of 2021, but most stallholders still made some very good profits making it very worthwhile to attend. The fact that there are already very few spaces left for 2023 at Guildford at Christmas demonstrates just how much demand there is for the 3 day events.

The people of Thame love their Craft markets. 

This was our final event of the year at Thame, and we were greeted by a classic Christmas card scene in Thame with snow still on the house roofs and sparking on the fields. A huge Christmas tree and carol singers added to the beauty and enjoyment of this wonderful festive location. The people of Thame were out buying in force despite the really very cold conditions, we have rarely seen Thame so busy. Right from the start of the day there were customers coming into the hall, and is often the case at Thame, spending a good long time talking to stallholders, though some may well have been enjoying the warmth too. By continually working hard throughout the day our Mynt Image team managed to create a footfall of 737, an excellent figure for Thame at any time of year 

The people of Thame always spend well and it is one of those locations where you don’t need a huge footfall to create good sales. When you get such a large footfall as we generated, we know that there will be some exceptional sales. With the amount of bags coming out of the event and the excited talk from customers, we knew that sales would be rather special. One stallholders selling South African products sold in excess of £800, their 2nd best ever. Another stallholder selling mostly silver jewellery, had sales in excess of £600. Three more stallholder achieved £400+, with the majority of stallholders achieving around £200. IWe had several new stallholders with us at this event and it was wonderful to see them being helped out so well and supported by those with more experience 

This was a great Thame event to end our 10th year at Thame and proved beyond doubt why we continue to use this delightful location.

A freezing cold day leads to standard results 

We have run Romsey before at Christmas and always found it to work very well as a Christmas event. It seemed today however that we were a little too near to Christmas Day itself and that most resident of Romsey had bought their presents already. Romsey is lately proving to be a much better Summer location than Winter one, with few tourists around today. Romsey was especially quit to start the day today and certainly didn’t wake up until 11am when there started a steady flow of customers through the doors. This flow continued all day and at the end of the day a footfall of 786 had been created. As usual, customers spent a lot of time in the hall. Possibly aided today by the added attraction of some warmth. 

Spending today was good, but not as high as we would normally expect at Christmas.

Jewellery was very much in demand today with 3 jewellers achieving sales of over £200 and one almost £400. Jewellery is always in demand at Romsey. Plants were also very much in demand with one stallholder selling almost 30 flower arrangements and very happy with her sales. Our resident author had her best ever day with ourselves selling a large number fo books, the people of Romsey certainly enjoy a good read. Smaller gifts of soap and candles also went down well with sales of between £200 and £300 for most. 

We love this Romsey event and are surprised that it doesn’t book up as well as other New Forest events do. Romsey has superb potential as we continue to prove, and in the Summer months can be a really good tourist trap

A bitterly cold day but a record footfall for the year at any venue. 

The day started off with some snow, making the ground a little dangerous, but this soon cleared and we were in for a beautiful cold day. Most of the day the temperature was below freezing but there were certainly people out shopping in the outside Christmas market in Guildhall Square. Unloading is not easy at this location, but was achieved smoothly with stallholders following the instructions well. Unfortunately we had a few last minute cancellations but several stallholders were glad to use up a little additional room. And then the customers started coming in!!! At one stage we were letting 500/hour into the event and there were certainly plenty of bags coming out. No doubt some customers were coming in to get out of the cold and enjoy the warmth, but our pro-active stallholders were selling to them well. By the end of the day and with some great last minute sales being made close to close, we achieved a footfall of 2493, our highest footfall at any event of the year. 

At the end of the day we were very pleased with the sales that had been made, making this possibly our most lucrative event this year for most stallholders. A card seller sold in excess of £700, and she was joined by a candle seller and a fused glass maker. Another glass worked had his best ever event 

selling in excess of £650, whilst an artist also exceeded £500. Only one stallholder appeared disappointed with their sales. A woodworker commented that he had had an excellent day and he had certainly sold a good many trivets because so many people told us they had bought them. This was certainly a very successful event despite the horrible conditions outside wjhere the Mynt Image staff worked with hot drinks in hand all day. 

Next year we have some 3 day Christmas events at Salisbury and expect these to be even better than the events of this year. Salisbury is great in the Summer, but at Christmas can be magnificent.

An excellent footfall for Christmas at Lymington 

Lymington is primarily a Spring/Summer venue, but can also be fruitful at Christmas with locals looking for presents and still some hardier tourists around. The draw of the outside Saturday market is a great thing and we always make use of it to encourage customers into this event, Despite the cold conditions there were plenty of people on the streets shopping for Christmas; most seemed to have bought the larger presents and were now looking for stocking fillers, our stalls at Lymington being perfect for these. The warmth of the hall and shopping inside was also a draw which our team outside made the most of. Keith and Peter monitored the event well, avoiding any usual parking difficulties and making set up far easier than it has been for several months. There weren’t enough free parking spaces for everyone and we were pleased that some stallholders accepted the need to use local parking. A few stallholders arrived late, but even these were sorted before the event started, meaning that the hall was looking excellent despite a few non-attenders, 

Customers started flowing into the hall right from the start and at times our leaders had to be more crowd control rather than attracting people into the event. There was a steady flow of freezing custo0mers throughout the day until the town died at 3pm with hardly anyone on the streets, most avoiding the cold. At the end of the day our relentless team had managed to attract 1270 customers into the event. Spending was more on smaller items at this event with soaps and candles going down well. Our gentleman selling hats with lights in them for cyclists also did very well and there were plenty of stallholders achieving between £200 and £300 but few over this amount. Jewellery also sold well with one jeweller achieving almost £350. There was a good positive atmosphere in the event at all times and stallholders were certainly pleased with the large footfall. 

We look forward to our 11th season at Lymington in 2023 in what is always a reliable venue if you have the right products.

Cold and crisp in Henley and some good sales for most

Henley has performed very well this year so we looked forard to the day ahead. It was a very cold start to the day but thankfully it was much warmer inside and while we set up the hall slowly transofrmed into a stunning array of stalls. An excellent range provided something for everyone whether it was stocking fillers or main presents.

We got off to a slow start but gradually gained momentum, the outside food market helped funnel the customers in the right direction and we simply nudged them over the line. (even if the giant christmas tree in the square obscured the view of the hall slightly) Footfall wasnt particularly steady but more flurry after flurry with a fe gaps in between. The numbers were good overall and ticked over nicely throughout the day but the 875 through the door certainly came in waves.

We saw some good spending, 2 stalls cleared £600 with a further 4 in excess of £500. We had plenty more between £200 and £400 so for the most part spending was very good. Bizarrely though, there were a couple of stallholders struggling to cover costs, for whatever reason they just didn't have what Henley wanted despite having previous success here. Overall we are pleased with this market and look forward to the coming years here. Merry Christmas Henley.

A very good Cranleigh footfall results in some very good sales for most.

Cranleigh is one of those events where you do not need a good footfall to achieve good results, but when you do get a higher than average footfall, sales can be very good for some. Today was a cold crisp day in Cranleigh and the hall took a while to warm up in the morning. Unfortunately 3 stallholders didn’t turn up but our wonderful group of stallholders soon took over their places to indulge in additional space. Right from the start customers seemed to flow into the building and at one stage we even had a small queue outside the doors. The Mynt team worked up and down the High Street attracting customers into the hall all day, despite the freezing cold conditions and were constantly asked where the event was being held. By the end of the day we had achieved a footfall of 699 adult customers as well as many children, a record for the last few years at Cranleigh.

3 stallholders sold over £500 today including a man selling vintage style decorative items who sold over £1000, a candle seller and a silver jeweller. Several other stallholders achieved around the £300 including a wood worker and an artist. Most stallholders achieved between £100 and £200, very good figures considering that this is one of our cheaper events. It was a great end to the year at Cranleigh and it was loely to hear such great comments about the quality of products on offer from the customers who visited the event as they came out.

Another good Friday at Salisbury 

Fridays at Salisbury before Christmas are always good. There are still people looking for the Salisbury Christmas market, now unfortunately a thing of the past, and very willing to come into our events. With the start of the cold weather this last Friday, customers were very willing to come into the event to warm up and enjoy the colourful stalls on offer. Just as 2 weeks ago, the Market Square looked empty for most of the day and stallholders were surprised by how many people we managed to find to come into the event. The Mynt staff braved the chilli temperatures, which thankfully with little wind was not too biting. A majority of the customers we attracted this Friday were groups of single women, especially in the afternoon, and since these normally buy well, we knew we were in for some decent sales. By the end of the day we had managed to attract 1073 adult customers into the event. 

The banqueting hall was a wonderfully bright and warm refuge today and many customers spent a good long time in the hall enjoying the warmth and taking to stallholders.. Several stallholders did well today with sales of over £500, and many stallholders achieved £200+. Authors did especially well today with both adult authors selling extremely well, though beaten y our children’s author who didn’t stop selling all day. Candles also went down well today as did jewellers, though buying wasn’t consistent throughout the day for many stallholders. The results resembled sa very good Saturday event rather than a Friday event and we were glad that the spendings eeemd to be well spread out amongst stallholders.

Friday - An excellent afternoon for our 1st Christmas event at Guildford 

This was the first of our Christmas weekends at Guildford that have always produced excellent results in the past. It was a bright cold day with the remnants of a fog lingering around, allowing shoppers to dress up warmly for Christmas shopping at last. There was a Christmas market further down the High Street which also provided a focus for shoppers. The public were looking for Christmas presents and there were plenty of the expected elderly couples and single women out on the streets shopping. It was slightly surprising to see so many family groups and couples on the streets when this was not the weekend, Customers came in right from the start with over 140 in the first hour meaning that this was not one of our Guildford slow starts. By working hard throughout the day the Mynt Team managed to attract a footfall of 1196, a very respectable total for a Friday at Guildford. 

Our seasoned experienced stallholders took up most of the event, joined by some stallholders who were newer to us. There was a great selection of different gifts on sale with both upstairs and downstairs looking full and bright despite 2 last minute cancellations. The atmosphere upstairs was especially noteworthy with some real comradery being developed between stallholders. Spending in the morning was relatively poor despite the large amount of customers. However in the afternoon we were please to see that spending picked up a lot with only 1 stall not covering costs. One stallholder selling scarves and socks sold in excess of £600 and a jeweller over £500. Many stallholders sold £300+with the majority being between £150 and £250. Several larger items were bought, though most customers seemed to be looking for the special affordable item. Guildford performs well throughout the year and there are never massive footfalls such as we get at Salisbury, but spending always increases per customer in the Christmas period and today was no different.

Sunday - A good end to a busy weekend 

This was our final day at Guildford for this weekend, which had already proved to be very lucrative for many stallholders. It was a chilly grey day and Guildford was still waking up when we set up at 11.00. By 11.00 when the event started, there were plenty of shoppers on the streets but not as many as we would normally expect to see on a Sunday. Setting up was easy because many of our stallholders had booked for all 3 days, so there were few new stallholders to assist to their places. It is such a delight for our stallholders to be able to leave their stalls up and intact for 3 days, it reduces their effort a lot. Customers were certainly Christmas shopping as well as looking for items for themselves. The streets gradually became busier and the Christmas atmosphere was improved by several bands and buskers as well as artists who were out in force. The Mynt team worked hard throughout the day and at the end of the event at 5pm had achieved a good footfall of 1120. 

Spending was better for most in the morning today with some excellent sales of clothing (coats) especially in the morning. But it was not the spending spree it had been on Friday and sellers had to work much harder to achieve sales than on the previous 2 days. One jeweller continued tos ell well throughout the weekend as did a stallholder selling sock and scarves who almost sold out of some designs. One artist had done well all weekend with his animal and pet drawings, but was surprised in the very last half hour by managing to sell an original drawing, bumping up his sales considerably. Average sales today were between £150 and £250 though several stallholders sold substantially more with at least 3 exceeding £500. It is our regular stallholders who trade with us throughout the year who really reap the benefit of Christmas with many returning customers, and this was yet again the trend this Sunday.

Some excellent sales and a record footfall 

We predicted that this would be a good final event for the year for our stallholders and it did prove to be so for many. The Community Centre had arranged a Christmas Fun Day and we had worked with them and around their event to ensure that everything worked together well and smoothly, which it seemed to do. There was free parking for Small Business Saturday in the main car park and although this sounds like a bonus it actually proved to be a difficulty due to the fact that many cars were parked there throughout the entire day, leaving little room for the visitors. Our team worked hard, though often had to use different tactics from usual due to the crowds in the building. This was event management at times rather than attracting a high footfall. By the end of this rather cold day and negotiating all of the challenges opur excellent team of Keith and Peter had attracted a record 1087 customers into the hall where the event was taking place. 

Customers were certainly looking for Christmas gifts today with Christmas day just 3 weeks away. However as we have seen this year theya re being very choosy and not spending out on large presents, preferring instead to buy that special smaller item. However one artist stallholder did record sales today, selling 2 original paintings to one customers and ending up with sales of £1400. This was the exception and not the rule though and most stallholders took between £100 and £200. At least 3 stallholders did however achieve sales of over £300. All of the stallholders seemed to be very happy with the event and there was an excellent atmosphere ion the main hall at all times. Several stallholders have already remarked that they have never seen the event that busy before. For most this was a truly memorable day at Lyndhurst and for us a great way to end at this amazing venue for 2022

A very good finish to our 2 years at Trowbridge 

Trowbridge has been one of those venues which has performed well at almost any month of the year. Trowbridge Town hall has been an excellent addition to our event for the last 2 years and we are disappointed to not be able to offer events here for 2023/24 due to the extensive planned refurbishment that will be taking place. We have a really keen and enthusiastic core group of stallholders at this venue who will miss it greatly, though we are disappointed and surprised that more stallholders have not been attracted to this very good venue when results have been so good 

This was a classic Trowbridge event and customers were arriving on coaches from all over Somerset and Wiltshire throughout the day for Christmas shopping. At times there was a small queue into the event, just as there had been last Christmas. We were very pleased at 4pm to yet again achieve a total over 1000 customers at 1009, only marginally less than we achieved last year. 

Spending per customer is always good at Trowbridge so we knew that stallholders would do well. Photography sold especially well with sales in excess of £450 including many framed prints. Jewellery also did well with one jeweller achieving £350+. A glass seller, a soap seller and a candle seller also did extremely well with sales of almost £400. An author sold 17 copies of his book which pleased him greatly. Most other stallholders achieved sales of between £150 and £250 and we are not aware of any stallholders who didn’t recoup their stall fees. It was also good to note that our Wiltshire Wildlife representative smashed his target and signed up 7 new supporters. 

We will miss this venue for the next 2 years but would certainly consider coming back here in the future. The people of the area are delightful and really enjoy a quality CVraft and Gift event.

Christmas magic in Salisbury

Setting up here on a sunday is pretty easy, the city centre is so quiet it allows for a much easier unloading. Everything felt relaxed as we transformed the stunning hall into a simply gorgeous market. A stunning range of stalls could not have looked better or offered more for the customers that were about to come in. We shifted the opening hours back half hour to allow for a sleepier start and it seemed to pay offer. 

We let them wander in from 10 but did not start to actively trade or encourage them until 1030. They flowed through from the off and by hal past when we actually started to work for the footfall the floodgates well and truly opened. The Mynt team had to barely lift a finger in order to draw the numbers through for the most part excpt helping the elderley and prams up the stairs.  At some stages we nearly had to slow them down as we saw hundreds entering in short periods of time. We often see a lot of bottlenecking here when it gets too busy but today the numbers flowed quite consistently meaning that people always had time to browse without being carried with the crowd. The numbers didnt start to slow until just after 4 when the rain started but even then the last minute shoppers came through and spent. We saw a massive 2363 through the door, and we're not even in December yet.

Spending was good too, we saw 2 stall holders clear 4 figures and many more were around the £500 mark. Only one stall holder seemed to struggle today but otherwise the lowest figures seemed to be around £200. One of our artists made a very interesting point though. Having taking £350, noted that sales had almost entirely stopped for an hour or so during the day when he stopped engaging. From 3 busy market days the artist needed a small rest and the sales reflect this, of course he still had a very good day overall but it was very interesting to see how much tougher it is when you dont engage.and work for it.Overall a very good day in salisbury concluding a very good weekemd. 

A busy day in Witney

The air was cold this morning, christmas is definitely starting to take over peoples lives once again so we held good hopes for this market. Set up ran smoothly, a wonderful variety of stalls adorned the corn exchange and a beautifully inviting atmosphere welcomed custoemrs from the moment we opened. The town was quiet to begin with but sprang to life just before 10 oclock and momentum builded. The numbers flowed tremendoulsy well with flurry after flurry, ranging from older couples to young families and everyone in between. The footfall lsowed slightly in the afternoon when we saw a few spots of rain but nothing to affect us too much. In total we saw 1045 through the door which is good for this venue this year.

Spending was mostly good but not exceptional, we saw several clear £500 and many more over the £200 mark. Only 2 struggled to cover costs today but that wasnt through lack of interest. It felt like it was a good market but not quite 'christmas level spending' but that said there is a lot of keen customers planning to return to our final event here next month just a week before Christmas which will be superb, We saw a few regulars returning too so Witney is fast becoming a location where frequent attendance will pay off. December in this stunning town will be a good one for sure.

Marlborough delivers a feast of Christmas sales for most 

We have often quoted Marlborough as one of those venues which doesn’t need a large footfall to create good sales. Today we knew would be a good one, our final event at this venue for the year and close enough to Christmas to be classed truly as a Christmas event, With Christmas trees in the building, a wealth of Christmas lights around the streets and decorating the Town hall and our Christmas Music playing, a delightful magical Christmas atmosphere was produced in Marlborough. The people of Marlborough and those visiting it in several coaches were certainly in a buying mood and right from the start we noticed a host of bags coming out of the door. Marlborough is often a slow starter, but not this week, and after 1 hour we had attracted 160 customers into the event. We continued to walk around the town with our arrows and to spin arrows and shout out from the steps and the people just kept on coming throughout the whole day. Marlborough takes effort to draw people into the Town hall, but if you make the necessary effort we certainly proved today that pickings can be excellent’ By the end of the day at 4pm we had achieved our record Marlborough footfall of 943.

Customers were delighted with the quality of the stalls inside Marlborough Town Hall and constantly told the staff how well organised the event was and how great the quality of products on sale were. One photographer spent almost the entire afternoon framing pictures and ended up making sales in excess of £700. A Charity stall selling knitted clothes and decorations sold almost £500. A jeweller and some stallholders selling indoor furnishings reported having very good days especially int eh afternoon. Over £700 of candles were sold by 3 candle stalls, one stallholder having her 1st ever event selling candles with us. One jeweller almost doubled their normal takings and were delighted by what they had sold. Our Africa elephant artist also had an excellent day selling £400+ for her charity. It was also good to see our Woodland Trust stall signing up 8 people to a regular subscription, double that expected. The atmosphere within the hall was excellent today and newer stallholders were well supported by the more experienced. One group of stallholders have already asked if they can be placed together next week at Hungerford, they so enjoyed working with each other. With such a large footfall we expected good results but these surpassed our expectations and demonstrated well just how good a venue this can be if you know how to attract customers into it.

Slow start but prosperous afternoon in Henley

t's beginning to feel a lot like .. no, wait, we are still a month away, BUT ... the light of the morning is dim, the temperatures are down to their seasonal average, it feels like we can mention the X word without being abashed. Moreover, the Henley outdoor Xmas events are in full swing now and Mynt have timed things wisely. The set up was very smooth this morning, people coming up, seeing their goods to their table, moving their cars to the long stay car park, return and set up. Repeat in a beautifully well timed stagger and you have a busy early morning which is nonetheless as smooth as a baby's posterier. There was a lot of art on sale today and our usual contingent of jewellers and a decent amount of variety in between, a great looking hall to advertise to the public when we opened our doors at 10am.

The people of Henley are slow out of the traps but by the first hour a solid number of 85 had been achieved with just over 200 visitors by midday, an outdoor farmers market of just a few gazebos helped just a little and by 1pm we were over 350 and the fair was in full swing. The feeling inside the hall was that they had seen a steady flow but as if often the case at Henley it was only with some effort that sales were being made. The locals tend to mull things over with their bistro lunch and whether it was the main course or the wine, the second half of the day was incredibly buoyant, seeing a total of 1158 visitors by the end of the day. Only in the last 20mins of the day did things slow down with the rain starting to make the outside a little less pleasant. Our staff received a lot of enthusiastic feedback from people leaving the hall, many of whom had spent very well inside.

The story that greeted us inside was mixed, a couple of stallholders had failed to make their table fees back today and we are always very disappointed when our stallholders have struggled. At this time of year, everyone is hoping for a good set of events but competition is fierce, it was with relief that we found therefore that the overall story was one of decent sales. Our top vendor made over £500 with a further seven in the £400+ category, two over £300 and four over £200, all very solid results. A further four well over £100 shows that on the whole Henley is a rewarding venue.

Lost of Christmas shoppers out buying, leads to some good sales 

Lymington is traditionally a perfect Summer location, but also has the potential to do well in Christmas, and this was one of those good days. It was a grey day with drizzle at times. Set up was relatively easy despite an electricity problem for some stallholders which the staff successfully restored. The stalls looked great today and there were a lot of very experienced sellers at the event who certainly knew how to create a successful Christmas stall. On a Black Friday weekend there are often plenty of shoppers around and today was no different. Even before we opened the doors, there were customers coming into the building. The Mynt Image team are never content to simply let customers drifting and as usual were constantly walking around the town of Lymington to draw people in from the far end of this long High Street. By the end of the day we had managed a very good footfall of 1205, our 2nd highest of the year at Lymington. 

Customers have had to be coaxed and tempted to spend their money this Christmas Season. It was certainly the more experienced seller who did the best today, especially those who had been there all year building up a reputation and making the public aware of them during the Summer. Customers this year don’t part with their cash easily and it was disappointing to see a few stallholders not recoup their table costs whilst others made some impressive figures. Bests elling today was a stall selling home products who exceeded £500.A stallholder selling Beanie hats with lights in them for cycling was really pleased to sell more than £400 as was a lady selling soaps who had her record ever day selling over £400. An artist, a lady selling textile items for charity and a stall selling products made from Bees honey and wax sold over £300. A lady selling bags and aprons was also delighted to achieve over £200. Within a few hours of the event we were delighted to receive a note of thanks from one jeweller telling us how pleased she was with the day.

Fridays at Salisbury can be well worth doing. 

It was a gorgeous sunny day, a little chilly perhaps but with no rain in sight, it felt like Christmas was here. The Guildhall looked amazing decked out in lights and toy soldiers and with several wonderful Christmas trees. Unloading on a Friday at the bottom of the steps is so much easier than on a Saturday or Sunday and the hall was quickly filled with some amazing and colourful stalls. The Market square looked empty all day, but despite this, people seemed to be flowing into the hall really very well. It was Black Friday and this may have had some influence on the number of people who were out on the streets today looking for presents. The Mynt Image team worked hard all day getting customers into the hall and at times there was a small queue to get in. What was strange was that stallholders were going into the event in large groups rather than a gentle flow, more like waves flowing across the square and very strange for Salisbury. By the end of the event we had achieved a really excellent Friday footfall of 1052. Please remember too that there was NO outside Christmas Market in Salisbury drawing in coaches, though there were still tourists coaches around dropping people off in the City to visit the cathedral. 

Spending was fine today with most stallholders doing really well. Most stallholders reported doing much better in the afternoon than the morning with the final hour being especially good. One stallholder started the day selling nothing except socks yet in the afternoon this had changed to nothing except scarves … very odd. One stall selling jewellery and scarves sold in excess of £600 whilst an artist had a great day selling 500+. A Several other stallholders sold £300+ but the majority between £100 and £200 which is fine for an additional selling day. We had several new stallholders with us and 2 of them have already written to say how much they enjoyed the event and felt supported by the experienced stallholders around them. Subsequent to the event, 2 stallholders have already booked further events in 2023, having enjoyed the Mynt Image experience so much. 

With such a successful start to our Salisbury Christmas season we are looking forward to further Christmas events at this, one of our flagship venues.

A record footfall results in some good sales 

This was our last event at Devizes in 2022, but we are certainly looking forward to returning in 2023 because Devizes is always so productive for our stallholders. It was a gorgeous morning, much colder than recent weeks and really felt like Christmas was actually here, With blue sky and no chance of rain all day, we were looking forward to a good day. Set up, as usual at this excellent venue, was very easy, the level ground really does assist those with mobility issues. A few stallholders arrived a little shaken and late due to a road accident enroute to the hall, and it was lovely to see our other stallholders calming them down and giving them help before the event opened. We were fully booked and tha hall looked amazing. Customers started coming into the Ceres Hall even before we opened and after the first hour we knew that we were in for a very good footfall with over 140 adult customers in 1 hour. Devizes Ceres Hall is an easy place to get customers into as long as you actively advertise the market with staff walking around the town advertising the event and use of our other pro-active methods. By the end of the day we managed to attract 751 adult customers into the event, a new record for us.

With such good looking and well presented stalls, we received nothing but good comments from customers. Our staff were stopped several times as they walked around the town by customers who wanted to praise them for running such a high quality event. We were so pleased to have such a good mix of seasoned stallholders and stallholders new to us. We also had several brand new stallholders, trading at their first ever events and some of these did very well indeed. All stallholders reported on the friendliness and support they received from our experienced stallholders, it really does help our events. We had 2 stallholders selling in excess of £500 today, a lady selling African inspired art and a lady selling home made teddy bears. Another stallholder selling glass also sold in excess of $400. Most stallholders sold between £100 and £200 and we are not aware of any stallholders who failed to at least double their stall costs, making the event profitable for every stallholder attending. 

Devizes is such a good event for stallholders so long as the event is actively marketed and staff consistently make good efforts to draw in customers. Our pro-active advertising really does work well at this excellent venue. We are looking forward to returning in 2023

A very busy day in Romsey

A cold, crisp morning was welcomed by the Mynt team, a big drop in temperature compared to the previous week meant people would be wrapping up and in the spirit of Christmas shopping, or at least we hoped. Set ran smoothly, the lift here is slow but incredibly handy. The Mynt team ran up and down the stairs like yo-yos too which was appreciated by the stallholders. Once they had all set up, the hall looked superb, a good mix of stalls with incredibly varied setups gave customers plenty to browse and explore.

The footfall started well, clearing 100 customers in the first hour was the sign of what was to come. We had regular flurries throughout the day, the just kept coming and coming. We often had 10/15 people entering at once (which was most of the highstreet at the time) and this continued throughout the day until we smashed past previous records and hitting an incredible 970. On a busier day in town we may have even seen a thousand but with record numbers we're not complaining.

There was absolutley no pattern to spending whatsoever. Art sold fairly well however one artist took well over £500 making regular sales over the course of the day and another had taken even more but 99% of the sales were made in their last hour. We had quiet morning and busy afternoons reported by some and vice versa reported by others. The demogrpahic was fairly broad but quite consistent over the day so the random sales patterns are almost impossible to analyse. A few stallholders struggled to reach 3figures but overall it seemed a good day. A lot of customers were asking when particular stallholders were back so the aftermarket sales here should boost numbers for many. December here promises to be a good one.

A fond farewell to this venue

Our final fair at this venue was a clear and crisp morning, the weather having finally returned to normal late autumn temperatures. Wokingham has been a challenge to unload at over the years but those teething problems seem to have been finally ironed out with a succession of stallholders coming and going until the watchful gaze of the Mynt staff. By 9am all of our clan were upstairs working on their displays and by 10am we were ready to go. 

The morning started off steadily enough with 80-90 visitors in the first hour and over 250 by midday but the lunchtime period slowed down somewhat with less than 200 over the next two hours, but things picked up in the afternoon and a total of 680 was achieved. 

Most stallholders found the morning slower than the afternoon but some stallholders were selling very well throughout the day with others finding the last couple of hours making a big difference to their overall view of the day. Only a couple of stallholders had disappointing sales, both of whom had performed extremely well at previous Wokingham event. Our strongest performance today was £700, another at £500 and three more in the mid/high £300 category with a half dozen between £150-£200. In all, the final Wokingham event for Mynt was a very successful day.

A quiter day but they spend well

The day began cold & crisp with the sun shining. Set up was done easily with Stallholders making their tables look great.

Keith worked hard to attract as many customers as possible through the door. Footfall ended at 326 which, although low compared to our other locations, is in the expected region for this venue and spend per head can be very good.

Cards, jewellery, small Xmas gifts, silk scarves, knitted gloves, coasters, hand made notice boards & books sold well. 3 or 4 stall holders made £300+. Most stallholders did fairly well and were happy, and a handful were not so lucky & just covered costs. Christmas was on peoples minds but not quite prominent enough to prompt incredible spending. With footfall in mind though we're happy with this event.

The demographic was mainly retired couples with a few young families. And lots of dogs!!

Christmas comes early in Salisbury

A mild clear day early on, no sign of a chill as the Mynt team unloaded from the loading bay in New Canal Road, there are new parking arrangements in place (and have been for a few events now) but as was to become clearer as the early morning progressed, the only ones aware of this were the Mynt crew and the stallholders. Mynt HQ had arranged with the Council for a temporary suspension of a taxi rank so that it could be used by our customers for early morning unloading but no coned off area was seen and no temporary notices, nor was the local traffic warden aware of the arrangement. The local enforcement officer was very reasonable and we were able to explain the situation and so our unloading continued albeit with one unlucky stallholder having already been issued with a ticket which we are going to arrange for the council to have rescinded. No harm caused but a little more hectic than usual

And so, by 10am we were open and trade didn't just trickle in, it streamed in from the off. The outside market has expanded to cover the full area of the market square these days and consequently there are many more people outside the Guildhall at any given time. We found it no trouble at all to convince those in the area to pop into the fair and such was the convivial atmosphere throughout that may compliments were received about the standard of the fair but also some praise for the team outside advertising the event. Aside from a brief lull around lunchtime a very brisk pace was maintained resulting in 1678 total visitors to the fair.

With high footfall comes a nice busy atmosphere within the fair and so we hope to hear that the numbers and hubbub are well translated into sales. For the majority this was the case with 10 making over £200, a further 3 over £300 and headlines of 400, 450, 600, 700 and 1000 for our top five vendors. These are really solid figures which show that the fair is still very competitive despite the really tough environment. There were a few stallholders who found the day less successful, the majority having covered their costs but one or two falling shy of their table fee. It is a long hard day with very little reward when this happens but we were grateful to those stallholders for being resolute nonetheless and as always we work hard throughout the day to maximize the chances of success for the whole.

An excellent Footfall but little sign of Christmas 

It was a lovely warm day, and this was possibly part of the problem, it was very hard to imagine that Christmas was just 6 weeks away. The streets of Guildford were very busy but it was mostly young people and young couples and this is never the demographic who spend well in our events. It was remarkable to see so many young people enter the event and to look for hand made and unique products rather than designer products. With a footfall of 120 in the first hour, we knew that we were on for a good total today and despite a protest march for Iranian freedom, customers flowed into the event all day. We worked closely with an excellent busker (Seb) all day as well and this really drew people up to the Guildhall to enjoy his music and the experience of our event … It is good to work closely with an excellent busker and we hope to develop this in the future. By the end of the day we had achieved our best footfall at Guildford for the year of 1332 

If only spending reflected the footfall. Christmas seemed to be months away with the ridiculous warm weather and it was clear that few were buying for Christmas. We had a really great mix of stalls today and there really were products for everyone, from art and candles to excellent silk products and a really good range of jewellery. We also had a good mix of experienced stallholders as well as those with far less experience. One stallholder selling jewellery and scarves sold £600 and one jewellery £500+. Several other stallholders on both floors sold £400+ and we are not aware of any stallholders who failed to at least cover their costs. One author had his record sales at any of our events and was delighted to have such a good day. There is no doubt that these are good results, but they are still down on what we would expect at this time of year

Not quite the Christmas sales we were hoping for but certainly not a bad day

The drive into the surrey hills and down into Godalming was a remarkably pleasant one, blue skies and not a hint of frost yet this. The mild temperatures were very comfortable and set up ran smoothly. Stallholders arriving almost consecutively which allowed a really easy unloading period, the Mynt team of course working hard but a seemingly more relaxed which is always nice. We had a good mix of stalls in the hall for this event, it was nice to see such a good range with such friendly faces behind the tables.

The town itself was somewhat average in terms of foot traffic. It had its busier moments but was never packed like we'd expect this time of the year. It was noticeably warm in the sunshine and this was clear in how many passers by walked around with t-shirts and shorts or their jaclets slung over the arm. The roads were busy but it seemed like people were heading out of town for the day rather than coming shopping, perhaps making the most of the glorious weather. Mid november we'd anticipate scarves, gloves and hats to adorn the streets instead so we ask the question if the weather had affected the spending? Afterall when was the last time someone when Christmas shopping in summerwear.The team worked hard regardless and managed an impressive 545 for the day, a good number for this venue.

Spending wasnt quite as good as we'd hoped for this event. It felt more like an August/September type market where Christmas was only on the minds of a handful. A few stallholders noted a slight drop in sales versus last time and a few were around the same. We had 4/5 around the £200 and only a couple we know of struggling to cover costs. Certainly not a bad day but we'd have like a little more. All stallholders seemed to be in great spirit though as they seemed to enjoy the day for the most part and really appreciated how hard the team worked drawing a crowd.

Quality over quantity in Hungerford today, some great sales in poor weather

The day started looking fairly bleak, it was cold and grey in Hungerford, so cranked the heating up and got everyone set up. The car park, just 50 yards from the back of the hall had an issue with their machines so free parking all round, the first sign of a good day ahead. The halls looked really good here today, such an incredibly inviting mix of stalls inside meant customers had an excellent choice to explore.

Outside the town was quiet, very quiet. We spent most of the day between drizzle and light rain. The warmth of the corn exchange a good draw for the few customers that were out and about. We had to work hard to keep the footfall flowing but thankfully we had a pretty good turnaround, totalling 480. We often saw more people inside the hall than on the entire hightstreet itself at times. This was helped by most customers really engaging throughout their time inside the hall. Perfect for making those sales.

Figures were pretty good for the most part, we saw 2 stallholders clear £500 with ease and at least a dozen sat between £200 and £400. Many of those that were at the last event here saw at least the same kind of return or better which shows we're really starting to get customers in the christmas shopping mood. A very good day all round for this venue in such atrocious weather conditions. It shows that the quality of customer far surpasses the quantity.

A huge footfall demonstrates just how excellent this venue can be. 

It was a wet grey day with no sign of the sun … did it ever rise? Thankfully it was not quite as wet as we had expected and we did manage to keep relatively dry. There were few people around the cafes, normally our richest source of customers but there were shoppers around. We also discovered that the well established Abingdon Traditional Craft event was running and this was drawing many people into the town, especially because many had bought tickets for this recognised event. We had to ensure all day that we promoted this other event despite ours being free to enter and customers having to pay a charge for entry to the other event. We guided many customers to the traditional event whilst at the same time welcoming them into our free event with many customers visiting both. Craft hungry customers were in abundance in the town and willing to spend well despite the recession. By walking around the town despite the poor conditions we managed to attract an amazing 1103 customers into the event, a record for Abingdon 

Spending was good, with some stallholders doing better in the morning than the afternoon, though there was evidence of the reverse too. There were times when customers just seemed to be walking around the halls and not buying followed thankfully by intense buying activity. As is often the case, the last hour was really excellent for many stallholders with many customers returning from an earlier visit. One stallholder selling jewellery and scarves achieved their record sales of over £1000 and was absolutely delighted. A card seller sold in excess of £600 and a couple selling 3D printed dragon models and art sold in excess of £700. One stallholder at her first ever event sold more than £160 having expected to sell very little. Most stallholders achieved between £150 and £400 and we are not aware of any stallholder who failed to meet their stall fees.

Some really great sales despite the wet conditions 

We had purposely issued warnings to stallholders the day before that this would be our first rain affected event of the year and unfortunately we weren’t wrong. It was a wet grey day in Lyndhurst and we didn’t see the sun all day. There were not many people around, though as usual there were some visiting the large range of coffee shops and restaurants in Lyndhurst, many with nothing else to do. Our 2 Mynt representatives worked hard all day despite the conditions and still managed to create a respectable footfall of 680 customers. The event seemed a lot busier than this because customers spent a long time inside, some going around the stalls several times to avoid having to go outside. 

What was remarkable today was the spending which certainly demonstrated that Christmas shopping was well under way. One stallholder, selling glass, had her record day for the year achieving sales of over £750. Another stallholder selling homewares achieved just short of this large figure also having had an excellent day. It was a very happy and successful day for almost all stallholders with only 3 stallholders not happy despite having at least achieved their stall fee. Christmas was certainly on customer’s minds even though this date is really at the very beginning of the Christmas season. Customers were certainly very willing to spend despite the economic situation which seemed to make little difference to the people of Lyndhurst. 

We are looking forward to our final event of the year at Lyndhurst which coincides with a Christmas Funday being arranged by the community Centre

A very good Lymington event for most stallholders 

We started this event on the back foot, The onsite parking at this venue is incredibly handy however it is a privilige we must appreciate a little more than we do. On this occasion there were only half a dozen spaces available which of course make slife a little more difficult. Especially were there is no where to pass it soon gets a bit hectic when we have a couple of cars lined up to unload beofre shifting them to the car park just around the corner. Once set up however we did look good, very good. A great mix of regulars and some exciting new first timers to Lymington made for a broad range of stalls for customers to explore. The only minor drawback is that we had a couple too many jewellers booked into this event, all of which having booked before Paul took over earlier this year. Fortunately this is not going to be a recurring issue.

Even before we had opened, customers were chomping at the bit to get inside. As the clock struck 10 the floodgates seemed to open and customers flew in, the first couple of hours were tremendously busy in the hall even though the highstreet itself was nor overflowing with customers. We worked hard to maintain a good flow, and drew around 200 customers perh hour until 2 oclock where we'd 800 through the door. The following 2 hours were a little slower and we didnt quite hit 4 digits. We are more than happy with 996 though so we're not complaining.

Spending was pretty good overall, we had a couple around the £500 mark and plenty sat between £250 and £400. There didnt seem to be a particular standout product type for this event but I think the main focus for a lot was Christmas, Customers seemed to buy little and often rather than opting for the larger buys. This shows really good support for our crafters and even in times of such economic uncertainty custoemrs are still keen to buy with them potentially more so than ever before. Just as soon as customers know the lay of the land regarding budget I think the spending will shoot up.

A very good Thame event for most stallholders 

The end of October is never an easy time, situated between the tourists of Summer and when the Christmas Season truly starts in early November. However we were very pleased with today’s event when we had a very good Thame footfall and some very good sales figures. It was a cloudy grey day to start until this evolved into a delightfully sunny day where the sun still felt warm and temperatures still reached 20C. The people of confused were truly confused by the temperatures and wearing both shorts and wooly bobble hats! It was warm in the hall. But we opened as many windows as possible as well as the rear door to let the air circulate and help keep COVID at bay. Thame isd notoriously a slow starter and today was no exception, when after an initial rush we only had 60 customers in within the 1st hour.

Thankfully things improved a lot during the day and customers were soon flowing in very well with over 120/hour for the next few hours. By calling oput, spinning arrows and making ourselves known around the town we managed to create a very good Thame footfall of 584. 

Set up at Thame always takes a little effort despite what is now a very reliable lift. Once everyone is inside the hall, the hall looks really very inviting and today’s stalls really were attractive. We had a huge range of variety from jewellery to woodwork, feltwork to fabric bags and all displayed very well. Cuystomer spending is always very good at Thame and today was no different. One stalls elling scarves and South African products achieved over £650 whilst another selling jewellery and scarves over £450. There were many stallholders achieving between £200 and £300 and we are only aware of 2 stallholders who failed to reach the £100 mark. What most stallholders remarked upon most was the friendliness and support from other stallholders as well as the friendliness of the Thame customers. There really was a lovely atmosphere in the event and we received several stallholders asking to be next to the same stallholders at the next event if possible. We also really appreciated how some newer stallholders were supported by many of our more experienced ones, something we are always glad to see. What a delightful event.

Quiet Day in Cranleigh

The early morning start at Cranleigh sees the staff preparing the hall around 7.30am and we were greated by a seritable sauna, someone at the council stuck the heating on and we wouldn't work out how to turn it off. This resulted in a very warm hall as stallholders started to set up. We are still getting to grips with the changeover in personnel at Mynt HQ and our trusty helmsman has been doing sterling work righting the good ship HMS Mynt this year but even the most seasoned sea-dog has the odd mistake in him and we did have some juggling to do to squeeze an extra table in as a consequence. At times like these you rely on the cooperation of your customers and ours are the best, making light of some last minute adjustments to help accomodate everyone in the hall. And so as the clock chimed 10, we were looking good in the hall, which was crammed with 26 different exhibitors, no double tables at all and a wide range of products to choose from. 

Cranleigh has been a happy hunting ground for many an exhibitor over the years, it does not promise swathes of people through the door but it does promise a lot of bang for each person who does come to browse. The change for us is therefore to maximise the footfall as far as possible because small numbers can still mean good sales. The morning started off typically, with the count growing slowly but by 11am the team began to note the absence of people walking from the local carpark and supermarket past the village hall and a relative lack of traffic about the town. The usual queues of traffic around the roundabout which betoken a busy village were entirely gone and so it seemed that the town had taken the day off. When something is not working for us, we change our game and so the first of a series of sorties up and down the High Street commences, where there were people in town we found then and we made them aware of where we were. Keeping a staff member close to the door whilst the other cast the net further afield we observed that these excursious were resulting in some uplift in footfall. By the end of the day, we had reached a footfall of 425 which is below the average for this venue but we were exceedingly proud of this effort and received a lot of acknowedgement from our exhibitors when we spoke to them at the end of the day.

Inside the hall, we found a lot of our stallholders in good spirits. We were gratified to find that almost all of our stallholders had at least made a small profit over the day, but it is with regret that we learned that one of our exhibitors only made £20 today. A number of exhibitors fall into the category of hobbyists selling their craft on an adhoc basis for the joy of experiencing the day 'the fun of the fair' if you will, and many of them reported enjoying the day and achieving their targets, welcome news to our ears! And we had a number of strong performances from experienced sellers, the standout performers earning were two achieving north of £500, with three earning over £300 and two earning over £200.

A good day in Henley

An early start, by 8 am several stallholders had already made their way into the hall and started unpacking. It was necessary to shift stallholders to their correct location after having first imposed the table plan worked out by Mynt Towers the day before. Please do note that setting up prior to 8.30am is by prior agreement only and that the positioning of exhibitors is a delicate balancing act ensuring that the full mix of products is well distributed throughout whilst also accomodating other stallholder needs and/or requests as fully as we are able. 

Come 9.30am everyone had turned up and the hall was looking very good, the standard of displays goes from strength to strength and is a credit to our craft-folk. It was with confidence therefore that the Mynt team opened the day of trading announcing to the good people of Henley our presence in their midst. The weather was pleasant and clear before noon and the early morning trade was steady with 100 visitors in the first hour and over 250 by the passing of midday. By 1pm we were at over 400 but after a brief lull the afternoon became even brisker with a total of 916 achieved by the end of the day. Considering that there were no other events on in town, this is a very strong figure which demonstrates that the town continues to support the market regardless of external factors which are affecting the country at the moment.

The other side of the coin to the footfall is the sales and there were three stallholders who barely achieved their table fee with another 3 or 4 around the 80-120 mark. However our top seller turned over £600 today with three others breaching the 500 barrier, with the next tranche hitting 400, 2 x 350 and 4 x 300. Three more stallholders achieved over 200. With such buoyant results reported by so many there were no product groups which could be singled out as being particularly sought after today.

A mostly good day in Hungerford despite being a little quiet

The day started well, set up was nice and easy and the car park being so close it's always a stress free morning here in Hungerford. We had seom really good variety in the hall today and some really friendly stallholders led to a very inviting event.

The footfall started slow, the highstreet was pretty desolate for the first hour with the team barely drawing in double figures in 60 minutes. Thankfully, almost as soon as the clock struck 11 it seemed that Hungerford had finally come alive. A trickle of customers soon turned into a fairly steady stream which only occasionally slowed when we had a few spots of rain in the afternoon. It was a tough day drawing a crowd for the Mynt team so we're pretty pleased with hitting 460 through the door which is slightly above average for this year.

Spendind ranged from exceptionally good to exceptionally bad (with one we're aware of not covering costs) The overall skew though was certainly towards the more positive side though as we are aware of only 3 that didnt clear £100. Not bad for 30 stall holders over 460 customers. 3 stallholders teased the £400 mark and at least half a dozen more had cleared £300. We didtn quite catch absolutely everyones figures but all reports were pretty positive. Lots of excitement for the next time out in this great venue.

A classic Trowbridge event …. We will miss this location 

The Town Hall at Trowbridge looked amazing after all of the work that has been going on to its external masonry and roof for the last 2 years. It was so lovely to see it without the hideous covering of scaffolding. Trowbridge was busy today, getting ready for the Trowbridge Carnival in the evening. The day started grey but quickly brightened up with some sunshine and only one short sharp shower during the day. These were perfect conditions for our event and we knew that were in for a good footfall after a hectic first hour of 120 customers. The set up here is never easy unfortunately, the main difficulty being finding the Town Hall which is hidden in the depths of the challenging Trowbridge One Way system. With 3 people cancelling due to illness and 3 stallholders not turning up, we were left with 20 stallholders who managed to spread out and fill the gaps extremely well, making the event look attractive and appealing. By the end of the day we managed to attract 651 customers into the event, our best figure at this location for the year. 

The people of Trowbridge may not be as wealthy as those of many surrounding Wiltshire towns, but they are so pleasant, chatty and friendly and spend every penny they have in their pockets. Spending is always good at this venue and today was spread out well amongst the stallholders. One glass worker had her best day ever at any event taking £500+ and obviously was extremely happy. A jeweller/sock and scarf seller and a soap/candle seller sold over £300. An author, on his first event with us sold almost twice his target figure and was very pleased indeed. Many stallholders achieved between £100 and £200 with only 2 struggling to meet their costs. 

Our final event at this venue is in December and we are looking forward to it in anticipation due to the great success of our 2021 December event.

A mostly good day overall

A good bright start to the day and a seamless set up was per perfect way to start to the event. The town was busy early on and we had customers trying to enter well before we officially opened at 10, the promise of a good day ahead. We had a really good group of stallholders in today, some really friendly and welcoming people behind the stalls perfect for building a good atmosphere. 

Footfall flowed well form the start, numbers increased very nicely and didnt really slow until later in the afternoon. Even then the customers that we had in just before 4 hung around to make purchases, some past the time we'd closed. One stallholder reported sales of nearly £100 with last minute purchases alone. We were very happy with the flow of custom throughout the day, achieving a huge total of 941 it couldnt have been much better for this time of the year in Witney.

Spending was little mixed overall but certainly leaningtowrds the more succesful side, we had a stallholder exceeding £500 and half a dozen more in the £250-400 bracket. Only 2 stallholders we're aware of struggling to cover costs at this event and it seems everyon else we caught up with was happy with the day. There's been a lot of interest in the November and December market from custoemrs so the regulars here at Witney will see a huge benefit of returning each month. 

Disappointing results from a good footfall

It was yet another wonderfully dry day in Godalming with a little bit of sun. Threatening clouds did eventually lead to a little rain just after 4pm when our event closed. There were plenty of potential customers in town and by working hard out Mynt Image Team managed to create our best footfall of the year at this location of 486, a very respectable figure for Godalming. 

The event looked really good today with a good mix of experienced and new stallholders. Therew ere some really colourful stalls and many had started to introduce a Christmas element into their displays. Our September event at this location had been full of promise with some good Christmas spending. Unfortunately this was not the case today and Christmas seemed to be on customers minds no longer. Whether it was the economic situation of because it was a few weeks away from payday, customers unfortunately did not spend well today. One stallholder achieved £350 and another £240 with most others just about breaking even for the day. One new stallholder had a better day and achieved £120 at their first ever event. These are disappointing figures considering September had been so much better. 

We were disappointed today, especially when we had crated such a good footfall. There is no rhyme or reason why sometimes customers just do not purchase. There were a few unhappy stallholders though all acknowledged that our staff worked really hard and appreciated the free tea and coffee offered all day.

A great footfall not equalled by spending 

The day started with a short period of heavy rain before this cleared and left a bright day with some lovely sunny intervals. There were plenty of people out shopping, though the car parks were never full. We met many of our regular locals as well as many tourists who were visiting the town including a good number surprisingly from the USA …. Rather unusual in October. Customers had to be looked for and enticed into the event today, possibly due to the economic situation and very different from the 3 events of the previous weekend. By working hard, and despite a disruptive element of youths within the town (dealt with by the police), we managed to attract our best footfall of the year of 656 customers. 

The event really did look good today and this was remarked upon by both stallholders and customers. It really is a great venue and the hall is really light and spacious. We had many of our regular stallholders with us who know just how good Devizes can be and book up well in advance, as well as a few stallholders who were new to us, but fitted in very well indeed. Several of our new stallholders remarked on the friendliness of our core group of stallholders and the support they had been given. 

After such an excellent event at this venue in September and great spending, we were looking forward to this October event as it was nearer to the peak Christmas period. Unfortunately we were disappointed. Despite our very good footfall, spending was not as good as it had been in September. Christmas does not seem to have hit Devizes yet, though many customers said that they were looking for Christmas presents and would be back to buy in November. One jeweller managed almost £500 and an artist almost £400. 2 candle sellers achieved nearly £200 as did a photographer and a stall selling curry mixes, preserves and ‘toy bags’. Several other stalls achieved £200, though most stalls achieved just under £100 and we are aware of 2 stalls that failed to cover their costs. As usual, most stallholders seemed to have greatly enjoyed the event, it really has such a delightful atmosphere.

A record footfall leads to some excellent sales for most 

In 2021, our best event at Abingdon was in October so we were looking forward to today with expectancy. We were not disappointed and Abingdon certainly performed very well for all but a handful of stallholders. It was a gorgeous sunny mid-autumn day with hardly a cloud in the sky. There were masses of people on the streets, sitting around the market square in cafes or walking down to the Thames. The morning started off well and we had many customers into the event before it officially opened. When it did open, customers, in the morning, seemed to enter in waves. By Midday when we had a footfall of 350, most stallholders reported doing well and that customers were spending. In the afternoon, the ‘waves’ stopped and from 2pm onwards there was a ‘flood’ of customers entering the event. Even when we closed at 4pm customers were still trying to get into the halls and we had to close the doors and remove any advertising quickly. Our final footfall for the day was our record at this venue at 914.

We had a good mix of experienced and newer stallholders today. The stalls really did look impressive and there was a touch of Christmas to most stalls. Customers were definitely buying for Christmas with one stallholder reporting that their products were being bough for Christmas to send out to many places in the world. One stallholder selling wooden advent calendars sold his stock of 3 to one customer, whilst a mother bought an ‘original’ painting for her daughter for Christmas. At the end of the day there were some very impressive sales with a stall selling jewellery ands carves selling in excess of £800, their record at one of our events. 2 other stallholders achieved £600+ and several others between £300 and £500. We had 3 candle stalls who between them sold over £1000 of candles and diffusers. A lady selling Indian cookery books managed to sell 52 of her books, a remarkable achievement. Over £5400 was sold in the event, which with 25 stalls meant that most stallholders did very well. Unfortunately as usual there were a few stallholders who some reason did not do so well and missed out on the rewards from such an excellent footfall. 

Abingdon really is an excellent event in all 3 of the hall areas within it where we have stalls. Spending per customer here is extremely good and at this event was more than £5.00 per customer, an excellent figure. By the way Abingdon events are booking up so well for 2023, news about this excellent venue is spreading well.

Busiest day in Wokingham to date

A cool and crisp start to the day as we set up in this unique venue. We'd be lost without the lift here as we need to unload sharply to allow cars a quick turn around due to the limited unloading space. We ran like a well oiled machine and helped get everyone in and set up without too much difficulty. We had a double table no show so with some jigging about we made the hall smaller and offered a cosier and more welcoming atmosphere, perfect for good conversations and selling. 

As is often the case at some venues, we saw a quiet first hour with only around 50 entering the hall. It didnt take long however for the momentum to build and we saw a good steady stream with some good flurries, especially towards the end of the day. We totalled 777 through the door which is a staggering 300 people more than the last time out in Wokingham.

Spending was good too, it seemed most sat in the £300-£400 bracket which is superb. Even those selling less were taking around £200 so we're certainly not complaining. Small items were selling far better, 2 of our jewellers both noted that they sold very little in the way of 'expensive' pieces and it was all of the smaller items that were most popular. Overall a very good day. 

A tougher day than hoped in Thame but still some good sales

An early start for the Mynt team found that our location had made a slight change of identity from Thame to J'taime with the French food market setting up outside. This presented a challenge for our own stallholders unloading as it was necessary to move around a very large boulangerie directly in front of the hall. By 9.30pm we had a full hall though and we were ready to open at 10am sharp.

The early morning was extremely slow with the outdoor stalls creating a gridlock and many potential visitors taking alternative routes, but by 10.30am the main morning rush had passed and it became a little easier to manage the space. Expectations of a bumper day in town were not to be fulfilled but with some hard work and persistence a stready flow was achieve throughout the day and a total of 523 was achieved. Many stallholders observed that the hall maintained a good level of customers throughout. 

Jewellery stallholders had a tough day as did our bags and accessories but on the whole our traders reported a good day. Conversely art and ceramics both did extremely well with our top three stallholders with takes of £500+, £400+ and £300+ from those categories. Another three stalls were in the £200+ bracket with nine more with £100+. We had sales at every table but a couple of traders were unable to make their fee back today.

A record footfall leads to a good day for many.

We have been so fortunate with the weather this year and today was another beautiful sunny day with some clouds. It had poured down most of Friday and Sunday was forecast to be awful too.

There were plenty of people out in the warm autumn sunshine including both tourists and locals. Of particular note is the amount of ‘silver haired ladies’ around, often our core market for selling. There were also plenty of cars arriving at the crossroads in the village and with a member of our staff spinning an arrow in full view of these vehicles, many cars diverted to drop their passengers off for the event. At times the large car park was almost full and there was a great flow of customers into the event, especially between 10am and 1pm. It did slow down a lot in the afternoon, but some stallholders reported better sales in the slower afternoon than in the morning. By the end of the day, we had managed a footfall of 450 customers, our best for this venue.

Milford on Sea is one of those venues where you don’t need to have a huge footfall to create good sales, the customers at this location being very ready to reach into their pockets and spend well. It was good today to see the spending spread out over many of the stalls, though some stallholders didn’t do as well as they sometimes do. The best seller today was a lady selling South African products who sold more than£300 with customers often remarking to us on the quality of her stall. We had several other stallholders who achieved almost £200 including a candle seller, a man selling bath products and candles, a jeweller, a stall selling miniatures and clocks and a lady selling fabric products. There were plenty of other stallholders between £100 and £200 and we are only aware of 1 stallholder who didn’t at least recoup their stall fees. 

There is no doubt that customers were starting to buy for Christmas, although many asked when we were next at this venue so that they could come in and buy their Christmas products. The people of Milford on Sea are starting to accept the events that we run here and we do have several regulars now who attend and buy each time we are here. This is a growing event which is now becoming established and should perform well next year.

A good day in the heart of this stunning market town

The day started out fine and remained so throughout, neither hot nor cold, Goldilocks would have been deeply satisfied to be alive and the Mynt staff felt likewise. The sentiment seemed to be shared by all comers with stallholders in good spirits as they started to arrive, a few at a time from which gave the Mynt team time to set up and then to help show exhibitors to their tables and manage the flow of goods up to the hall. At the time of opening the hall was looking mighty fine with a lot of good displays, a good variety of craft and hope was in the air. 

WE opened on time at 10am and immediately had traffic through the door, a brisk start of 85 visitors for the first hour turned into a pleasingly constant flow of just over 120 per hour, a steady state that continued throughout the day, earning the Mynt team a total of 709 visitors over the full course of the day.

Mynt staff were gratified to observe on every occasion that we checked during the day that there was a good level of noise coming from the hall, a sign of a good level of business and our stallholders were in high spirits. By the end of the day, those who had reported a slow morning were reporting brisk trading during the afternoon. Others found that their morning activities had borne more fruit, but in all, all of our stallholders reported being pleased with their day and the numbers given to us show that nobody failed to make double their table fee.  We had one stallholder make £300 and another 8 in the £200+ category, a number of others £100+ and just a few around £70-90. Whilst stallholders mentioned recent economic turmoil being on the minds of many a would-be customer, clearly Romsey is still giving good support to our stallholders!

Numbers are getting back to normal and spending is slowly following

With a mix of the usual suspects, returning regulars and a handful of Guildford newbies both halls in this venue looked superb. Despite the overnight wind and rain, we had a good clear start to the day, perfect conditions for a busy day ahead. As always, the first hour or so customers only trickled in but as we approached midday the numbers flowed tremendously and it seemed to get busier and busier.

The team worked hard drawing a crowd, constant calling is a must here, so we were not shy in dragging as many through the door as possible. The afternoon saw flurries like the good old days with customers simply following the crowds in front of them and the numbers shot up. We managed a total of 1224 by 5pm and we were very happy with that. As always it seemed that customers followed each other while inside so as bizarre as it seems only one hall is busy at a time. 

Spending was mixed overall but certainly better for most than not. We saw half a dozen stallholders clearing £300 with a couple around the £500 mark. A couple of stallholders remarked a much better days takings than the previous market so Guildford is certainly back on the up. Christmas here is always incredible but since covid it has been a little tougher, this year however we’re not concerned in the slightest. Guildford is returning to its previous heights.

Superb sales in this terrific town hall

We had a pretty smooth set up here in Trowbridge, the one way system is a little confusing so that slowed a couple of stallholders arriving too early. The nice thing about them all getting to the hall at various times meant we were able to help and assist with unloading more than usual as we could more or less focus on one stall holder at a time rather than juggling 4/5 at once. As the event opened up this brilliant Wiltshire venue saw some bright sunshine so the atmosphere out in the town was a good one.

The team worked hard to draw a crowd, parading the streets and shouting almost non stop for the 6 hours we were open we sent 561 through the door (plus plenty of kids and dogs) and they seemed to really enjoy what we had to offer. Customers ranged from young to old with couples, families and absolutely everything inbetween so stallholders all had a good oppurtunity to make some sales. And for the most part it seemed they took that oppurtunity because the figures were good.

We had 4 stallholders clearing 300, with one of those close to £400. Another half a dozen were around the £200 mark and our Wildlife trust member creating loads of interest and signing up more people than anticipated (so much so he needed extra supplies dropping to the hall). There was no real stand out product, it seemed everyone did well. Trowbridge seems to have been superb for us this year and we can't wait for the Christmas season to be upon us in this fantastic venue.

A record footfall leads to excellent sales and happy stallholders! 

We were glad to be back at Abingdon after a break of a few months. Abingdon is one of our favourite venues because it always performs so well and the people of Abingdon are such lovely people. It was a lovely Autumn morning with plenty of blue sky and the people of Abingdon were out in the cafes around the market square right from the start of the day, enjoying refreshments in the sun. By walking around he square with our boards we have discovered that it is easy to move the relaxing people into our event close by and just after 10am customers started entering the event. The customers streamed in, in waves throughout the day, though there was really vener a quiet moment. Customers visited both of the halls that we use, often guided and assisted by the 3 stallholders working in the foyer area. By the time we closed at 4pm we had managed a footfall of 851 adults and many were still trying to get in after we had closed. 

With such a tremendous record footfall stall holders were on their feet for most of the day, working hard to sell their products. The stalls were especially inviting to day with so much colour and such good quality products for sale. The atmosphere in both halls was excellent and with such a positive atmosphere, sales were bound to be good. At least 4 stallholders sold £400+ including a stall selling miniatures and clocks, a jeweller. A photographer and a candle seller. Another stall selling soft furnishings also reported having an excellent day. Many stalls sold around £200 in both of the halls as well as the foyer, far too many to list individually, but including an author selling £270, his record for ay event. This was a memorable event and demonstrates perfectly just how good this entire venue is. It is no wonder that we have already had so many stallholders book for 2023 at this location, the people of Abingdon spend so well.

Great day in Godalming for all it seems

What a wonderful warm and sunny September day, stallholders seemed very happy to be attending and there were lots of smiles from the public outside on the fairly busy street who Sara (and pug puppy Frankie) and Keith encouraged to visit the event - we worked hard all day to achieve a fantastic footfall of 473 in total. Stallholders reported having either a good day or average day in general, in terms of sales, although a handful were very pleased indeed. One jeweller made £200, one artist £300+, another artist £500+. Candles and wooden items sold very well indeed too, as did soaps and cards.

A great afternoon at Lyndhurst 

It was a bright sunny day in early autumn with no sign of rain. The camp sites in the New Forest were heaving due to the additional Bank Holiday weekend created due to the Queen’s funeral. A lot of people were taking advantage of an early Autumn break and the streets of Lyndhurst became busy close to 10am. It certainly didn’t feel like the nation was in mourning. There were queues of cars and caravans all day through the picturesque town and many vehicles stopped specifically to come to the Craft and Gift Market. There was a slight drop in footfall around 1pm when the large central car park became full due to the number of people visiting Lyndhurst. The 2 Mynt staff continued working to attract people into the event throughout the day and a final footfall of 865 was achieved. 

Set up as usual was very smooth and easy for this event, the eay ramp into the building really does make this event easy to run. We managed to get all stallholder cars into the FREE parking courtyartd which pleased many. There really were some excellent stalls today and the brightness of the day really did enhance the presentation of many stalls. Although we had a lot of customers into the venue in the morning, spending was not looking good as customers really were not reaching into their pockets, with the exception of a few stalls. However although we had fewer customers after 2pm, these were the customers who turned this entire event around. The afternoon customers started to spend well and were buying a large amount of different items. A good many customers who visited in the morning came back in the afternoon to buy something they had seen in the morning. 1 stallholder selling miniatures and CD clocks had such a run of purchases that there were huge bare patches on their stall by the end of the afternoon. They sold just over £600, a near record for them and most of the miniatures were Christmas themed. Another stallholder selling £600+ was a jeweller and there were often queues in front of their stall. Another 2 stallholders sold in excess of £300 including a card seller who sold mostly Advent Calendars and sets of Christmas cards and a lady selling toy animals, photos and curry mixes. We are not aware of any stallholder who failed to meet their costs and average sales were certainly between £100 and £200. It was good to see that spending was spread across all stalls and not just restricted to a few. 

We have 2 more fully booked events at Lyndhurst this Christmas season. It is clear that Customers are now well into their Christmas spending, despite this only being September with the aim of spreading out the costs of Christmas.

A busy morning brings early sales 

It was a nice easy set up today, we had. good mix of stallholders booked in and they provided a really welcoming atmosphere for the public who were keen to enter as we opened up. A good busy morning with lots of promising conversations and a slightly quieter afternoon led to a reasonable 725 through the door. Outside there was a lack of bustle that often adorns Witney and it seems they may have just been a .ittle more relaxed or even subdued with the Queens funeral coming up.

Spending was mixed through out, we had lots of £150-200 results which seemed to be as good as it really got except for one stallholder who had an exceptionally good day (for the second time in a row at this venue) It certainly shows the value of regulars and repeat business. On a similar note, we saw a few commisions agreed by a couple of stallholders today so although the sales might not have happened immediately we'll see some good post market sales from this event. There were a lot of presents being bought on this occasion and a lot of interest in the coming markets here before christmas. Overall we feel sales could have been slightly but better but we're certainly not disappointed, especially with the promise of returing customers next time round. Role on October.

A difficult start but as usual Thame proves that large footfalls are not necessary. 

This was a tough day for Mynt Image staff, but our team leader, due to his excellent efforts turned what could have been a disaster into a success. On the evening before the event, our ‘helper’ let us down due to events in Windsor where she lived making it impossible to get to Thame. We managed to get some support for him from stallholders who were attending the event which is something we love to see and is just how we love to see Mynt Image events working with many people pulling together. Unfortunately the day was made event tougher on the day itself when the representative from Thame Council failed to arrive to open up the hall. We did thankfully manage to gain access at 8.30 but this put a lot of strain and unnecessary pressure on both our organiser and stallholders. 

After such a turbulent start to the event we were glad to actually open up the event later than usual but still giving stallholders plenty of time to make good sales throughout the day. Our organiser was well supported by stallholders during the day and this enabled him to draw in a footfall of 362. When you consider that the Queen had only died 2 days before and that the nation was in mourning, we were very happy with this result. We were even happier when stallholders told us how well they had done. Jewellery seemed to go down extremely well with one stall achieving £350. A stall selling candles achieved over £250 and was very happy. The majority of stallholders reported having had a very good day with most achieving between £100 and £200 but with at least 4 over 

£200. Customers spent near to £2500 in the event, with spending being spread around many different stalls and only 2 not achieving their table fees. There was a high spending per customer. 

Despite the really tough start to this event, we were very pleased with the results and now look forward to the 3 remaining fully booked events at this venue for the year.

A slow day in a very sombre Salisbury

As set up got underway, the stallholders we had booked into this event really made the hall look fantastic, with numbers slightly lower than usual due to the sad news of the queens passing in the week. It was good to see everyone in relatively good spirits ahead of a day where we had no idea of what to expect. We toned down our efforts in market calling by way of respect and this did not seem to be at a detriment to the footfall in the early part of the day. Numbers flowed with ease, the market square was busy for the time of the day so the morning was pretty good. AS the day progressed the atmosphere outside taile off somewhat and the numbers slowed down. There was real subdued feel in the air outside of the market, it was like people didnt know how they should react or behave at all. Over the course of the day we managed 816 through the door with no shouting. It felt like it was probably quiter than this though as customers were a little distant at times so it was tougher to have good conversations.

Sales were not incredible, we had a few aronud the £300 mark and many over £100. There were a handful who struggled to cover costs but no one seemed particularly disheartened as it was pretty unanimously decided that the day could have been a lot tougher than it already was. An odd market overall but of courde in the circumstances this is a one off. There were quite a few questions about when stallholders were returning so customers have christmas in the back of their mind.

Far better than we anticipated 

With the Queen dying on Thursday 8th September and the nation in mourning, we had no idea what to expect from our market in Devizes this Saturday. We had liaised closely with Devizes Town Council who had agreed to the event going ahead despite the nation being in mourning, We wanted a respectful atmosphere in the hall so decided not to play any background music or to ‘shout out’ across the streets to make the public aware of the event. We had also asked stallholders to have some flowers on their tables and to use dark coloured table coverings if possible. It was good to see many stallholders responding to our suggestions and the atmosphere in the hall was exactly what we wanted to achieve … respectful. The Mynt team worked outside with their arrows all day, walking around the town to bring the event to the attention of the public who were clearly looking for something to do. Many customers asked us when the next event was as they were about to start their Christmas shopping. At the end of the day we had achieved a good footfall of 541 and all without noise!!! 

Sales were a little less than we would have expected with such a good footfall, although many stallholders did have a good day with all but 2 meeting their stall fees. Customers were certainly buying glassware and mosaics today with some very good sales, Jewellery as usual sold well, though not as well as often at this excellent venue. One artist selling African inspired art sold more than £300 whilst a further 5 stalls achieved sales of around £200, Candles were starting to sell with 2 stalls selling more than £100 of candles and diffusers. There was a constant flow of customers throughout the day with only a small lull around lunchtime. As usual at Devizes we had a few last minute customers into the event spending almost £100 just after 4pm when the event officially closes.

A good end to the Summer at Milford on Sea 

The first Saturay in September, with children just returning to school, is traditionally for our events the last day of our Summer season and the start of our vitally important Pre-Christmas season. This is the time to start getting your name out there in preparation for the Christmas Season. The weather was perfect for our events, bright enough for a few more hardy families to take their children to the beach, yet cloudy enough for many visitors to the New Forest, to look for somewhere to go. Our markets provide the perfect indoor event when there is a threat of rain. Standing opposite the Crossroads in the centre of Milford on Sea, many cars stopped to ask where the event was and where the parking was before they spent an hour inside our event. Several customers returned several times today, browsing in the morning and returning to buy after a few hours of thought in the afternoon. Milford is always a slow starter, though we know now not to be too worried, because it livens up during the day. BY the end of the day, we had managed to attract 412 customers into the Community centre and most, by the sight of so many bags coming out, had spent very well. 

The event did look really good today with some very attractive stalls and stallholders really making use of the space given to them. For many, as usual the morning was slow. But the afternoon provided some very good sales. One jeweller ended up with sales in excess of £400 and 2 other stalls achieved nearly £300. A lady selling textiles bags and fabric achieved nearly £200. CDs turned into clocks sold very well in the afternoon with several sales of multiple items and the stallholder needing to go out to replenish their battery supply! Unfortunately we are aware too of 4 stalls which failed to cover their table costs, though all stalls did make some sales. Customers were certainly buying foir Christmas and Christmas themed decorations and products were selling throughout the day, Many customers, whilst proudly showing us what they had bought also asked when the events in October and November were because they wanted to come back to buy more presents. 

This was a typical Milford on Sea event. It is never going to be an event with a huge footfall, but the spending per person has to be one of our highest. Several of our stallholders did better at Milford with a 412 footfall than they did at Lymington with a footfall of almost 1400. Quality buyers is what you need and Milford on Sea certainly produces these

The best footfall for more than 3 years leads to some very good sales for some.

A cool early September morning was a welcome change to the high summer heat when setting up early morning. With one of the Mynt Image Team falling ill, we had to send over a last minute replacement by Taxi from Guildford, but it was certainly the right move to make. This event was fully booked but despite us informing stallholders that it was fully booked and space would be at a premium, many seemed to want more than their 7 X 5 space. It is important that stallholders recognise that if they want extra space, this can only be guaranteed if they purchase additional space. People wanting additional space didn’t make set up as easy as it should have been. 

The opening scenes was a sparsely populated Henley, with a very talented busker drawing in the crowds. By 10.30am the clicker had hit double figures but by 11am it was pushing triple figures and aside from a brief lull around 1pm a fairly steady stream of well-heeled punters were encouraged from the crossroads up the Market Place to the portals of the Town Hall. A figure of 925 was achieved by the end of the day and one stallholder made another £40 after the market had closed. 

Sales were odd however with some stallholders selling record amounts and others finding it hard to sell anything. There seemed to be very little middle ground. One silver jeweller sold in excess of £600 whilst other jewellery stalls struggled to sell anything. One A lady selling products from South Africa achieved £375 and a charity knitwear stall over £300. A lady selling children’s clothes achieved £300+ and the RSPB managed to sign up 6 new members which is well above their target. At the other extreme there were several stalls who sold very little indeed and really struggled for no apparent reason. 

Christmas is definitely coming fast, Christmas presents are being bought well in advance this year to spread out the cost.

A tough day for most with some good sales for some

The set up for this event was nice and easy, it seemed everyone was chilled and relaxed throughout the morning which made life a lot easier for the Mynt team who were remotely trying fix a staffing issue while etting everyone up. Both halls looked good, a nice inviting atmosphere perfect for customers to enter into. It felt like a good day would be ahead.

Unfortunately as the day proceeded it was soon apparent that it would be a tough one. Customers took a lot of persuasion for most of the day with only a few good flurries where we picked up momentum. The people in the highstreet were oddly unresponsive bar a handful of foreign tourists who seemed a little more keen than the locals who passed. We managed only 646 over the 7 hours which is lower than we'd expect for this time of the year and even a portion of those needn't have entered based on how quickly the returned again. The rest of the customers however, thiose with genuine interest and intent either spent very well or had positive and potentially fortuitous conversations.

We had a few stallholders taking £500 and a further handful around the £300 mark. Art and fashion among the better sales for the day. We had some larger items sell today too which is always good, more recently its been the smaller, more gift type items that have been selling. A couple of stallholders struggled a little with sales however they had a lote of interest which looks promising for future sales or commisions which will of course make this a very succesful day. It shows that the quality of custoemr here is high and sometimes you really do have to play the long game. Its worth noting also that many sales were hard fought so although the many successes it wasnt an easy day. The build up to Christmas certainly looks promising though so roll on next month.

A good day for most in Oxfordshire

We had a slightly more hectic set up for this event than usual, the stage had been left up by the hall (something they were not supposed to do) so we had far less room in the hall than usual. We managed to work with the space available though and although cramped it worked nicely. It also seemed like stallholders arrived on the same bus or something as about 12 arrived it once. This meant the hall quickly transformed and soon looked superb. A good mix of regualrs and newer stallholders created a great atmosphere and the range of stalls we had was fantastic.

The morning started well with customers flowing in quickly. We saw a fairly consistent turnover throughout the day with over 100 customers every hour. However the flow was up and down every minute. we saw 20-30 enter within minutes and then nothing for 5 minutes or so after that unti the next big flurry. It was almost as though customers were entering in timed slots and waiting for the last lot of customers to leave before the next group entered. THis was reflected in the highstreet which constantly went from busy and bustling to very quiet over and over again. Despite the odd flow of customers thoughwe saw a good number over the day so there were certainly no issues with footfall overall. We counted 671 in the main entrance so the total would have easily exceeded 700 including the side door.

Spending was good for a bank holiday weekend in Witney, we saw a couple of exceptional sales with one stallhoder clearing £600 and a few around the £400 mark. A couple of regular customers returned today and this refelcted in some of the better sales. We saw some of newbies around the £100 mark which is perfect for their first few events. Covering costs and a little profit while learning as much as possible is the ideal way to set you up for growth and the busy Christmas period. A good day for all it seemed with lots of interest for aftermarket sales with many.

Friday - Bank Holiday Fridays are so good at Lymington 

It was a blue clear day with light winds throughout. The streets were quiet even for a Friday with few shoppers around. However down at the Quay there were many families enjoying a day out at Lymington. The first hour was very quiet with just over 50 people into the event. We were slightly concerned that it would be a low footfall day. After 12pm, Lymington seemed to come to life and the last 2 hours of the day seemed especially busy as people returned up the hill from the quay. There was an enthusiasm from large groups of people to come into the event in the afternoon and some spent amazingly well. By 4pm our footfall was 549. 

The hall looked vibrant and full of colour today. We had some very experienced stallholders who knew how good Lymington can be on a Friday in the summer. Set is always easy at Lymington with free parking for all and easy access to the building. Spending was particularly good in the afternoon with large numbers of bags coming out. Art was very popular today with one artist achieving £400+ and another £200+. A felt artist also achieved orders of almost £400. Jeweller seemed to go well with several achieving £200+. Most stallholders sold around the £100 mark. 

These figures are very good considering this is a Friday with no outside market. This being a 2 day event, stallholders were able to leave their displays overnight. A successful day for most.

Saturday - Lyndhurst performs well

A classic Summer market at Hungerford.

Sweltering in Salisbury results in a tough day

In the midst of a heatwave we were anticipating a slightly sweaty set up and we were not wrong. The unloading in the morning is tougher than the loading at the end of the day due to the market access so we got a bit hot and sticky getting people in. Once unloaded though we saw a mix of old and new in the hall and a lot of variety. Lots of friendly faces greeted customers tody which is ideal for sales.

The footfall started fairly slow but within half hour or so flurries of people came in to explore and we had a relatively busy morning. The square was pretty quiet throughout most of the day but we worked hard to drag as many people in as possible. It was much easier in the earlier part of the day as we worked in the shade but as the sun worked its way around the building and the streets got quieter, drawing a crowd became a lot tougher. The extreme heat had clearly put a lot of people off venturing out into town. Many locals were noticable absent today and we predominantly saw tourists. We achieved 714 by the close of play which considering the lack of activity outside we feel is a good number. We of course would have liked to see more customer but we dont feel this would have been possible in such conditions.

Spending was either very good or very poor with no real inbetween it seemed. We had a couple knocking around the £300 mark and half a dozen or so were £200+ beyond that people seemed to cover costs but profits were slim. Those selling to tourists were among the most succesful for the day as they were the only ones to brave coming out. This would've been an excellent market if we saw cooler temparatures.

Crazy heat spoils our Lewes event 

It had been very warm for our July event at Lewes and we had hoped for the usually cooler weather of August …..BUT it was not to be. With temperatures soaring up to 34 degrees during the day, there were simply not many people either visiting or shopping in Lewes. Right from the start of the day we knew it was going to be a struggle, there were just so few people on the streets of Lewes, and to be honest who can blame them when the beaches of East Sussex are just a few miles away. Thankfully this large hall at Lewes stays relatively cool throughout the day and we had few complaints from stallholders regarding the heat.

Stallholders actually seemed to be more concerned about the heat that our 2 staff members were outside working in, especially because there was little shade and there are some very steep hills in Lewes. It was quiet until about 3pm when suddenly there were much larger numbers on the streets including large groups of women (visiting whilst partners were watching live football?), some of whom were more than willing to spend! The final hour for many was by far the best part of the day. At the end of the day we had managed to attract 445 customers into the event, quite impressive considering the conditions. 

Sales were NOT brilliant today. Many customers seemed to be coming in just to escape the heat and weren’t really there to purchase much. Most stallholders broke even or made a small amount. One artist stallholder did however achieve sales over £300 mostly in the form of originals … The people of also achieved Lewes are certainly wealthy. At least 3 other stallholders achieved sales of between £150 and £200 with several more between £100 and £150. A few stallholders were not happy with the sales, but thanked us for the effort we had put in.There was as usual in our events a great atmosphere and we have already had one stallholder praising us for the organisation and energy we put in at the event. 

We have booked 2 Lewes events in 2023 and these will go online at the end of August with the rest of our 2023 dates

Guildford performing about as we'd expect for August.

A good bright start to the day and a pretty seemless set up made for a good start to the day. Initially the highstreet showed promise of a busier day with more people milling around than we'd expect to see in the opening hours of the market but it didnt really affect footfall to greatly. As the morning progressed into early afternoon the footfall started to pick up nicely. It was never particularly busy but the flow remained constant and we didn't have much of a dip around lunchtime which is always positive. A few little flurries post 4 o'clock bumped up the numbers slightly so we're happy with the 892 overall achieved.

Spending was fairly good for most, we don't tend to see anything spectacular in the summer here as tourists can be 50/50 on spending. The locals in Guildford tend to be the ones with the money. That said however a number of overseas tourists came and spent well. We had a handful of stall holders taking around £250 and a couple struggle to cover costs. ONe interesting conversations to note is that one stallholder who has exhibited both up and down stairs on multiple occasions this year has seen almost identical sales between the two floors. It was only really the atmosphere that differs. A lot of customers where asking when we're back too so those that are regular here will be reaping the reward come christmas time for sure.

A classic Summer weekday event at Lymington 

The day was bright with some clouds scudding across the sky. Lymington was late to wake up, but it was clear that there were many tourists in the town right from the start of the day, just as we guessed there might be. We know that Friday events will never be as busy as Saturday events, but they have always proved to be popular in the past with customers and spending has always been good. Today was no different and by working the whole town with our boards and inviting people into the hall we managed to create a footfall of 495 adults. 

Spending was interesting today with some stalls doing a lot better than others. One stall selling pebble art sold around £270 of their work. It was interesting to note that 5 of the pieces sold were for Christmas presents. A lady selling cards sold in excess of £150 and again this included a good number of Advent Calendars and numerous packs of Christmas cards, An artist and a lady selling homewares and decorations also sold in excess of £200. Most stall holders sold between £60 and £120 with, as far as we are aware only 1 stallholder failing to meet their table costs. 

It should be remembered that this was a Friday NOT a Saturday and that these stallholders were looking to make additional money to that they normally make on a Saturday. With this in mind we would consider this to be a successful event for most stallholders. The Friday/Saturday event we have at the end of the month is already fully booked but if it anything like the August Bank Holiday events we have run in the past, it should be very successful

Slow day but good spending, especially in the afternoon

It was a slightly overcast start to the day but very muggy so the lift in this venue was utilised fantastically. It made set up a lot easier and once everyone was in the hall looked good. We had a really lovely bunch of stall holders booked in to this event, some regulars and a couple of newbies. The perfect mix really.

The town seemed quiet to begin with and slowly started to show signs of life. Customers didn't seem to need much encouragement to enter which is always a good sign it was just a shame that the highstreet never got particularly busy. One local actually commented on the town feeling more like a weekday than a Saturday, perhaps the school holidays had people away for the weekend? We had to work hard to draw a crowd but slowly they came through and slowly they started to spend more and more. We managed just 470 through the door but we feel this was a good result based on the number of people in the town and a few stallholders actually thought we'd had more enter the market (usually a sign of spending)

The morning was pretty naff for most spensing wise but the afternoon made up for it! We had at one stallholder take around £400, 3/4 of which were in the latter half of the market. Around half of stallholders took roughly between £250 and £350 with only one struggling to make a sale. The resounding feedback saleswise was that the money came in later in the day. One of stallholders had hradly made a sale by lunchtime but aftera couple of quick succesion sales the ball was rolling and the spending continued nicely. It was a bit of an odd day overally but the spending was good so we;re not complaining and this market really did prove how important it is to work until the very end as a couple of sales were made post 4pm.

Busy high street leads to classic summer sales 

After the heat of the last week, it started sunny but clouded over in the afternoon making better market conditions. The High Street was full of tourists on this 1st weekend of the school holidays. The camp sites were full so many found their way to the market as it wasn’t super hot for the breach. 

Set up went smoothly though we did have a couple of cancellations the night before. Stallholders filled the gaps so the market looked full although it wasn’t. It was easy to get people into the market in the morning but this tailed off as the afternoon progressed. The atmosphere was largely good between and were mostly supportive of each other. We achieved a creditable footfall of 775. 

Spending was fair and what we would expect with lots of smaller items sold such as soaps and candles. A lady selling skincare and wellbeing products sold in excess of £400. A stall selling soaps sold £300+. A stall selling candles and another selling dog themed fabric bags sold £250+. A lady selling beautifully handmade bears hadn’t sold anything until mid afternoon when one customer bought 4 bears and made her day. 

We are looking forward to a good summer at Lymington with this amount of tourists about. There are still some spaces on some dates.

A busier than average Romsey showing how good Romsey can be for some 

There were many tourists in Romsey today swelling the numbers of potential customers, the locals were out in force too. The coffee shops with their outside seating areas were full throughout the day with people enjoying the pleasant sunshine which wasn’t interrupted but cloud until early afternoon. People readily streamed into the market throughout the day without much let up. By the end of the day we had achieved a footfall of 637 which is very good for Romsey in the summer months. This proves once more how good Romsey on the edge of the New Forest is in the summer. 

In the 24 hours before this market we had 4 cancellations which reduced the number of stallholders badly. By adapting the layout and stallholders using the space effectively and with imagination, the hall looked really good. The lift made setting up smoother than in the past and proved how beneficial this is. 

Two stallholders sold £300+ including an artist and a card seller. Another stallholder selling jewellery and scarfs achieved £250+. Three other jewellers sold £150+. Candles unfortunately weren’t in demand today. 

Romsey really is a good summer event. Today’s results confirm that.

A low footfall doesn’t mean poor sales! 

This was the first weekend of the school holidays and the good weather was attracting many families to the beach for the day/ The village car park next to the Communicy centre was full at times with little room to park. There were certainly people around, but still at times the village seemed like a ghost town with the local people choosing to shop early to avoid both the heat and the tourists. Our team did well and worked hard to attract as many people as p[possible into the event. Once again the last hour at this venue was the busiest, drawing customers in as they returned from the beach. At the end of the day, a satisfactory footfall of 305 was acheived ….. we are reliably informed that this number will increase as Christmas approached. 

Ungortunately we had several cancellations the day before this event due to Covid and family matters and this left us a little shorter of stalls than we had expected. By carefully rearranging the spaces, our Mynt Team managed to make the market look attractive and full. We had many great comments about the quality of the products on display and how good the event looked.Spending in the morning was poor and to be honest the Mynt Team felt like they were in for a disaster. However spending in the afternoon dramatically improved, just as it has done before at Milford on Sea. One jeweller had her best ever day at any event she had been to, another stallholder selling South African themed products sold in excess of £300 and a wood turner more than £200. Most stallholders reported having a good or very good day despite the smaller volume of people than expected. There were, as usual, those who didn’t do so well and did not have such good days …. The public are vey finicky, fickle and choosy at the moment making it difficult to know who will do well, what they are looking for and to select the right products to bring for an event. 

Milford on Sea has so much potential as a location and the hall is such a delightful hall to use with a wonderful light atmosphere. We are already quite well booked up at this location for the rest of the year and look forward to seeing how the events towards the end of our 1st year at this great new venue pan out.

Melting in Marlborough still leads to good sales for many

A bright start to the day and a stress free set up was enjoyed by our stallholders today, Everyone arriving in good time for us to assist with unloading helped make it easier for them too. We were anticipating a good morning but quieter afternoon with soaring temperatures and very little shade cover in Marlborough. 

The day started as expected but perhaps slowly than hoped, a relatively steady steady stream for the first couple of hours and then the numbers started to dry up with the occasional flurry over the afternoon. It seemed everyone had disappeared to either escape the ridiculous heat or to visit a pub garden or bbq. Albeit a low score for this stunning venue we were very please with 323 customers through the door. This actually makes it seem like the highstreet was busier than it was, especially post 2 oclock.

The quality of customers was good thankfully, a very high percentage seemed to buy something and came out with small bags. There were no particular stand out sales but at least half a dozen stallholders cleared £200. A couple struggled to cover costs but the resounding message at the end of the day was better than expected due to such extreme heat. Lots of customers were keen to return in September too, we think christmas will be coming early in Marlborough.

Our first event here less than good conditions! 

This was our first ever event at Lewes Town Hall. We are running 2 events here this year as a trial for future events. The hall is a large high ceilinged hall and remained cool throughout the day, very important when the temperatures were climbing outside. This was the start of an exceptional spell of hot weather and is perhaps the worst possible conditions for our events. Who after all would want to be shopping or in a town when they could be in the garden or at a beach? We knew that the footfall would be badly affected, and for the first ever event at a location, this was not going to be good news. We enlarged the team from Mynt Image to 3 members to give us a fighting chance. By constantly walking up and down the very steep High Street and calling out almost continually we did manage to attract a very respectable footfall of 550. This was more than we expected in these hot humid conditions. 

There were a lot of stallholders new to us today in Lewes Town Hall, some attending their 1st ever event and some trying us for the 1st time. We did have a few regular stallholders with us who lived on the West Sussex borders and decided to support us in this new locations which has masses of potential. There was at all times an excellent atmosphere within the hall and many new friends were made amongst stallholders. This is something we are really proud of developing this year. Spending was OK, though with such a good footfall we would have expected better. Art was in demand today and 2 artists hit £200. Many stallholders made between £150 and £200 including a candle seller, a book seller, a jeweller and a lady selling glass. Most stallholders made just under £100 with only 2 stallholders failing to cover their stall fees. 

Many stallholders were amazed with the effort we put into getting customers into our events. Many have been disillusioned unfortunately with other organisations and couldn’t believe the difference our active marketing methods make. We were also complimented on the organisation of the event and all of the pre-event communications, things we pride ourselves on. We are now looking to see how well our August event at this location goes, when hopefully conditions will be a little more normal.

Absolute scorcher in Cranleigh leads to good sales

The largerst village in England always seems to welcome us warmly. Today was no different, the incredible stallholders and gorgeous weather made for an excellent combo. Set up was smooth (many thanks to a couple of stallholders helping out over the course of the day). We had a good range on display today, and a real mix of regulars and newbies.

Footfall started pretty well, the good flow of customers created a superb atmosphere and the customers seemed to really engage providing an excellent oppurunity to sell. We had 3 entrances open to this venue to keep the airflow up so struggled to keep an exact count of footfall however we know it was a minimum of 450, 383 throgh the front door and at least 67 through the 2 side doors. A great footfall for a village venue, especially when the majority of this number was during the first 4 hours. The sun beat down in the afternoon and it seemed that people were only interested in buying crates of beer for the bbqs, we couldnt blame them!

Spending was good, we had a good handful of stallohlders clearing £300, one of which close to the £500 mark. Our gentleman outside with his beautiful arrangement of vintage garden wear and flower pots had an exceptional day too. It seemed most were in the £150-200 bracket with only a couple struggling to cover costs. Not bad at all in our books. We did have some lovely comments form customers detailing how they enjoyed the array of stalls on display and many keen to revisit in September when we return.

A classic summer tourist event brings good rewards for most. 

Salisbury is a classic location for one of our Summer events and today the whole city was full of tourists from both the British Isles and more importantly today, International tourists. The weather was not the really hot day forecast in the morning, meaning that there were masses of people in the city of Salisbury instead of down at the coast or in the New Forest. When the skies cleared and the sun came out in the afternoon, there were noticeably less people around and the outside pubs and bars were filling up fast. The outside street market was also doing well today and did not pack up until 4pm meaning that there were still plenty of possible customers in the vicinity right until the end of the day. We knew after the first hour that there was going to be a good footfall today, with almost 200 customers visiting the market before 11am and a lot were carrying bags of products out of the event. By the end of the day we had managed a very good Summer footfall of 1052. 

If you’ve never tried a tourist venue then you have really missed out, Spending in the Summer months can be almost as good as in the Christmas season. We had unfortunately had several cancellations due to COVID and other illnesses, but we still managed to make the event look full and very inviting. The stalls looked really well presented today and many customers were heard commenting on the high quality of the products on offer. Spending was good for most, though we are aware of 2 stallholders who failed to meet their costs, but they were fortunately the exceptions. One stallholder selling fused glass items sold in excess of £400, some of it being shipped to the USA. 4 other stallholders exceeded the £300 mark including a jeweller, an artist, a photographer and a soap seller. A lady selling hand bound books and a lady selling maps for children both made sales of around £250. A lady selling South African wares, a lady selling cushions/cushion covers, and another jeweller exceeded £200, All 3 of our candle sellers achieved nearly £150 each. 2 new stallholders at their first ever events took sales of £250 and £150. 

For those new to our events, or selling in Craft events, this was an excellent introduction and for most very encouraging. Salisbury is great for beginners and there are always plenty of more experienced stallholders around to give assistance and tips. The Summer months at tourist venues like Salisbury, Romsey, Lymington , Lyndhurst and Milford on Sea can be so good, and this event proved it once again.