Hi! We’re Caitlin and Mehar, and we joined the Pedddle team as Creative Content Coordinators at the start of April 2021. So far, it’s been great getting to know how everything works, and part of that includes being able to chat to Pedddle’s lovely members, market organisers and stallholders through social media.
We recently headed out to our first market with Nicki and the other Pedddle team members and were able to meet some Pedddle stallholders in person. Lockdown has forced events to close for so long and Trentham Makers Market was one of the first to re-open, so we thought it the perfect place to meet as a full team in person for the very first time (as even our job interviews had been via Zoom!).
Trentham Makers Market at the Trentham Estate Caitlin and Mehar, Pedddle’s Creative Content Coordinators
Caitlin‘s Market Experience
The Makers Market at Trentham was my first trip out with the Pedddle team, and as a new team member it was great to finally meet up in person. Especially on a sunny day!
We got the chance to approach a lot of small business owners, many already members of Pedddle, and for the ones who weren’t Pedddle members it provided the opportunity to introduce ourselves and have a chat.
After meeting and chatting for the first time in person, the Pedddle team split up so that we could wander through the market separately. The first thing you notice is how differently all the stalls were set up, with lots of colourful signs and décor. Mehar and I seemed to find ourselves gravitating towards a lot of scented soap and candle businesses (smells always draw you in!) and found some great offers and so much choice. You can easily get carried away with trying out all the different scents.
Chatting to stallholders was really lovely. I’d been to a lot of markets before joining Pedddle, but realised I’ve never taken time to just strike up a conversation and ask them about their day and their products. Once you get chatting over something that catches your eye, you really start to understand the thought and detail that goes into the stallholder’s work, which makes owning a piece of their work even more special. Lots of stallholders were so excited to be back at in-person markets again after a long time in lockdown and it was great to chat.
We met back up as a team and went to find a spot to sit and catch up over a lemonade, which was really nice as we got to show off all our buys from the market! We each found some lovely and unique things.
Overall, I really enjoyed being able to get out and see people after months of lockdown, and I hope we can head out to market together again soon!
Pictured above: Top left girls from The Archivist and The Sculptor, top right Cactus Parlour‘s market day set-up, bottom left Handmade.dog‘s stall set-up, middle picture features jewellery from Wear It Quirky.
Mehar‘s Market Experience
My first trip with Pedddle was to the Makers Market in Trentham and it was great! I finally got to meet the rest of the team in person after lots of Zoom meetings beforehand, the weather was lovely and the market was full of people having their first wander around since lockdown – the atmosphere was perfect.
As a team we had a little catch-up and then separated to spend time at various stalls, having a little nosy around and chatting to stallholders. Many of the stallholders there were Pedddle members, so we got to introduce ourselves properly as team members, and for those who weren’t, it gave us the opportunity to talk to them about Pedddle and explain what we do and how Pedddle works as a directory for markets and their stallholders. At first I found myself nervous talking to strangers in a professional manner at a market, but it became so much easier as the stallholders were all very friendly and spent time chatting away with us.
We got to know some of the Pedddle members who were stallholders at the makers market. We got to meet the faces behind Echo Art, Wear it Quirky, Cushy Paws, The Archivist and The Sculptor, Tinker and Stitch, Cactus Parlour, Marshmallow and S’more, Handmade.dog and many more, who all had beautifully displayed their products at their stalls. We made a few cheeky purchases and it felt so good contributing to these small businesses that put so much time and effort into making such beautiful things!
Caitlin and I went around together looking at the stalls, being very tempted by all the pretty handmade jewellery and the delicious smelling candles – I think we must’ve smelt over 100 different candles!
Once we had gone through the markets the team met up again, we found a nice spot to sit and refresh ourselves with lemonade and we showed each other all of our lovely finds, and threw in a few selfies and laughs for good measure. Although I have visited markets before, casually browsing, I have never spent a lot of time at them talking to makers as I had done this time, so I’m really glad that I have had this experience, meeting lots of people and actually appreciating all of the products and the time the stallholders have spent creating them. A fab first day out with team Pedddle, I can’t wait for the next one!
Trentham Makers Market Our purchases from the Market
After a long time of staying indoors and resorting to online shopping, markets are now making their return and will hopefully dominate during the summer months – find out how here.
This blog was written by Mehar & Caitlin from the Pedddle team. Click here to meet the team!