Hi Friends! How are you doing? Hope this post finds you well. Not sure where we left of last but I think it was the superbloom. Oh yeah the whole porta potty situation. Well that kind of got resolved, Mike handled it in his own way and got a response. So maybe everything was a misunderstanding. But it goes to show that you just got to make noise in which ever way works best for your situation.
The superbloom died down around middle April at which time the Pacific Crest Trail hikers started to pick up. Very interesting meeting people from different walks of life going on a voyage by foot. Through wilderness and desert and trusting of stranger’s hospitality. I couldn’t do it but I commend all those doing it. We follow the Facebook groups and you see all the stuff they have to pack, lug around and be aware of then you add the uncertainty of weather, nature……..absolutely amazing.
The big milestone we’ve achieved in the market is CA Lotto. Might not be a big deal for most city, big town people but for us it is. Took like three tries to get them to respond to our requests. There was a minimum visitor threshold that was required in order to be eligible, this is hard to quantify because of our unique location. Quasi local tourist seasonal spot. Well either way they came back to us and we got things rolling. CA Lotto is not what we would consider a profitable product the real catch is customer traffic, it brings people in. And if the customer wins then the minuscule profit margin becomes a little more valuable. So in a way we are also playing the game of chance, maybe we become the lucky store :D.
After the hiking season, things start slowing down in the desert. We had the Salton City Badwater ultramarathon that came through, then after that there is a cycling race and that is it. The challenge we have now is how do we create traffic in order to maintain the market during the slow season. We are considering hosting events, each has it pros and cons. Any athletic event requires considerable overhead for safety oversight and probably permitting requirements. That leaves card/board game tournaments. We need to find a big enough niche within San Diego and Riverside county area that would would draw people to drive out to pay to play. They are out there just requires research and planning. Honey tasting is on the list, just need to get the ad out. Please be on the lookout, thanks for reading.
2 Comments
Val Bowman · May 22, 2019 at 1:57 am
OK, First, allow me to understand. The “slow season” = no tourist traffic, right? (since the locals don’t necessarily sustain your business income). Sooo, perhaps bring back monthly MUSIC EVENTS. The “public community park” exists just behind the store. We use to have monthly pot lucks at the park with local musicians from Borrego, Ranchita, Warner Springs and beyond. It drew quite the crowd. I can put you in touch with the person, that has since moved back to our area, who was the organizer. If your’e interested, let me know. I’ll reach out and hook him!
Respectfully,
Val
P.S. Have you forgotten about my two headed snake idea? Or the talking dog? Question is: where do you find such nonsense???
koshun · May 24, 2019 at 2:24 am
Hi Val,
Thank you for reading and commenting. So I like the idea of having regularly scheduled events. As a business we can’t host potlucks because we can’t be liable for the food served. The location in the back is close to other residences, do not want to be loud neighbors. But more importantly I think this is already held at the Mountain Valley Retreat, think the owners name is Cherry. Having a band play music up front would definitely be a plus, set up by the yeti. Thank you for the ideas. But like always, I can’t stress enough the value of locals shopping the market regularly.