June 13th marked L'Orangerie's very first public show at Ottawa Makers Market! The June Edition took place in the Ice Shed at the Rideau Curling Club at 715 Cooper Street in Centretown. We had such a great time chatting with customers and getting to know our fellow vendors.
One thing that you may not know is that we are actually the planners and organizers behind OMM. When we started looking for markets to sell our flowers and plants, we were disappointed that table prices seemed to be high ($200+ is a lot on a student/start-up budget...) and frequency was low. We kept finding ourselves saying that we wished there was one market that we could apply to for the summer that was a regular occurrence. Small businesses and start-ups need that in the months and years before establishing themselves with a shopfront of their own, but there just wasn't anywhere in the city that could provide us with these things. While sitting on campus after class one afternoon (Algonquin Business Management & Entrepreneurship Program shoutout!), we said screw it, let's do it ourselves.
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| Logo Design by the amazing Ben Jensen (Way Bad!) |
That all sounds very inspiring, but it was NOT that simple, trust us. Organizing the market has been one of the most exhausting and crazy things we've ever done. It is a lot of work, especially when you both work whole other full-time jobs! But the proof came in the amount of response we got back from other makers and entrepreneurs in the same situation. The June Edition ended up exceeding our expectations and being one of the scariest and most fun experiences for both of us. We raised $1,050 and some equipment for For Pivots Sake, a local charity run by Antique Skate Shop that donates skateboarding equipment and recreational programs for underprivileged youth in Ottawa. L'Orangerie sold out of everything except for a couple of air plants and one lonely teacup planter. We had several vendors approach us saying that OMM was the first time they ever broke even at a market, which is a real risk for new businesses and why we charge a subsidized table fee. Best of all, we got to meet a huge group of rad likeminded business owners, makers and artisans
Here are some photos of the products we were selling at the June Edition, if you'd like to see...
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| A sweet little arrangement... |
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| Jenna at work |
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| Our table set up with some hand-tieds! |
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| Close-up of a sweet little bouquet |
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| Notice our faithful helper Ciaran in the background :) |
xx Jenna & Jess
(All photos taken by Ben Lewis. Property of Ottawa Makers Market.)
