Market Reflections - Then and Now

This blog post was originally meant to be published in July 2025, however I had to put work aside due to a health hiatus, which you can read about here. Thank you for your patience!

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I began attending markets in 2019. And as we celebrate our sixth year of being in business, I have been reflecting on all things relating to my journey as artist and small business owner of Accessories by Antoinette.

Markets have been something I have been thinking about in particular, and taking in the significant differences between our first market and markets of just the past few months. A lot has changed, not only around us but in how we operate.

Our market journey began in 2019, at the Gawler Lions Sunday Market, held at the Gawler Railway Station. The market has since closed down, but we learned a lot from that starting point – with both good and bad experiences!

When we set up for our first market, I had the distinct impression that the local and regular stallholders didn’t expect us to last very long – and I can’t blame them for that assessment.

Our first ever market stall - so much has changed since that day, and we have improved in so many ways!

We didn’t have the best gazebo due to lack of availability at the time. It was bright yellow (which was great for pointing out our stall, but not much else), quite flimsy and had annoying ‘wind flaps’ down the legs of the gazebo. It did the job at the time – but it absolutely wasn’t the best and only lasted a handful of events before we managed to invest in a significantly sturdier gazebo.

When we arrived the following week for our second market, we could see the visible surprise when we arrived back for more! We were amateurs, but we were determined.

One of our 2025 set ups: much more organised and with far better equipment, including our own mannequins and a banner!

Week after week, we returned for market after market. In time, we grew our customer base and made close connections with many of the other stallholders who seemed to expect us as part of the market furniture!

We moved on to other markets (that we still regularly attend to this day!) for various reasons. And seeing as the market is no longer operational, I may choose to write about it one day.

Compared to our first ever market, it’s always funny to think how we are now considered market professionals, when just a few years ago, we were fresh meat. Compared to 2019, now we give advice and assistance from years of trial and error, experimentation and improvement.

When looking inwardly, our stall has changed a lot. We have explored various products and ideas over the years and learned a lot about the best way to display our products through a lot of trial and error.

Compared to our earliest market stalls, our present-day stalls feel far less cluttered and chaotic. Having much more variety when it comes to products helps this dilemma significantly, rather than feeling the need to stuff the table with variations of a singular product.

While looking back at photos from our earliest markets, I can absolutely say that my style of photographing my stall has significantly improved as well, entirely through experience and persistence.

A close up of our first stall. A lot has changed since 2019!

Taking a step back to look at the bigger picture, a lot has changed when it comes to markets as a whole. Some of the markets I knew of when I first started are no longer operational, and there are also others which have started up in this time – such as the wonderful Vine and Dine Market!

It has been unfortunate to see such a significant increase in Temu and SHEIN resellers forcing their way into market spaces. When we first began, there definitely weren’t as many, and the increase has been most noticeable in the past 18-24 months of attending markets. I hope that is something that will change in the coming months - because a market is no fun for anyone when there is nothing valuable there.

Over the years, we have connected – and disconnected – with a lot of people.

Like in any profession, there have been the snakes. The nasty people – customers, stallholders and market organisers alike. The ones that shed their skin and reveal themselves to be venomous and cruel. In just a couple of years, I have had run ins with quite a handful, in which I simply vote with my feet, especially when it comes to markets.

Over the years, the quality of our products has continued to improve along the way.

Though there have been many negative experiences while attending markets, I consider them to be quite valuable. They have taught me many of the red flags to look out for and avoid. Because of this, there have been many instances that I haven’t applied for a market and later heard through the grapevine what a disaster or negative experience the event was. As a whole, these nasty experiences have saved me a lot of time, effort and money, and also saved my customers from an ultimately negative experience as well.

Despite the bad memories and the people that sometimes have you so frustrated you could just throw in the towel, there is still the sunshine hidden behind the rain cloud.

I’ve met some of the kindest souls imaginable, and made friends and found family along the way. We have seen many of these people come and go, whether markets were a short adventure to pass the time or they have unfortunately had to give up markets entirely due to complications with their health. We have had the latter occur a few times in the past 12 months, and just recently heard of the death of a stallholder who we met within the first year of attending markets. Though our time with them was limited, I still think back on our conversations fondly and value the time we spent with them across several markets.

There have been a lot of good memories made, a lot of bad experiences had, and so much learning done. There have been many ups and downs while attending markets – in every capacity. It has been a wild ride, especially when considering there was the birth of a global pandemic in there as well!

I value every single customer and could never imagine taking them for granted – especially when returning to support our small business dreams and our crafting passions! Markets keep us alive, and I know my business wouldn’t be where it is today without them.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for being here!

Kimberley (they/them)

Accessories by Antoinette