The Wild and Free Homeschool Group held a handmade market yesterday where the local homeschool students were able to sell their own products to learn practical business skills including customer service, producing products, and making change. Homeschool mom Megan Schick says the event saw a strong turnout.
“It's been really busy. There's been a ton of customers. We haven't really had a slow moment. We've had people at our table almost constantly. The girls have been making change and selling their items and marketing and getting people to ask questions. It's been really fun.”
Judas Sawatzky has participated in the event since it started a few years ago, he describes the benefits he finds in the event.
“I think it's very good. It builds a strong community and just helps build relationships. It's fun to make stuff for this. I like it quite a lot.”
Shick says the success belongs to the students as parents remain fairly hands off.
“They’ve really got to think about what items might sell, how they're going to make it, how much an item costs to make, and then how to price it. Then they got to actually interact with customers as they come to the table.” She continues “They come up with the ideas, they create them, and then they sell them and then they keep the profits.”
Alongside a strong turnout for customers, they were also able to fill all the tables with kids and their products. Shick says she feels they’ve outgrown the current venue at Knox Hall.
“We're going to have to look at either setting up additional markets throughout the year or looking for a different venue in the city that can offer a bigger space. Because this is the biggest turnout we've had, we actually had to turn people away because we only had room for 30 tables this year.”
Sawatzky notes the number of tables have remained the same, it's the interest that has changed.
“I feel like a lot more people are coming in and looking around. Just more community interest this year.”