# Brick + mortar marketing in a sea of pop-ups



## pastrysautegirl (Feb 2, 2011)

i'll try to be as to the point as i can be, but I could REALLY use some effective marketing tips.

Background: I live in a very small town and have a very small scratch, brick + mortar bakery where everything is made fresh with high quality ingredients for Fri-Sun hours (trust me, it's what the local market dictates).

During the late fall and winter months, we've got a SLEW of holiday marketplaces all over town, and a LOT of home bakers sell stuff for obscenely low prices, and I take a substantial hit.

Have you experienced an influx of pop-ups and how did you differentiate your business?

How can I market the uniqueness of my product and reach people and appeal to them to prioritize my product without passively implying the competition is lacking or presenting as obnoxiously superior to the competing vendors? (I'm active on facebook and instagram, utilize the platforms for advertising, and participate in a printed, local holiday guide each year)

How do you reach people and bolster your product and your business amidst the "thanks, but i found someone who can do it cheaper" mindset?

I'm trying to make a preemptive strike against this, this year, and am open to any and all insight. Thank you all so much in advance. (cross-posted to professional chefs in case anyone has a non-bakery-centric experience with this specific challenge)


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Me personally?
1) focus on wholesale to businesses. For this you need health inspection which you have and the others don’t.

2) maintain your bragging rights to your own unique products

3) start bragging rights to using local ingredients

4) develop shelf stable products for retail, get yourself barcodes and ingredient list labels and wiggle your way into retail stores.

My business philosophy has always been “ if Johnny across the street is selling apples, I want to sell oranges” . 

You can’t compete with a weekend baker at a farmers market, they aren’t paying the overhead you are. 

O.t.o.h. the weekend baker will NEVER invest in their business to the extent where they need to build or equip a commercial kitchen, invest in packaging, or go through the hassle of barcodes.

Sell the oranges....


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## pastrysautegirl (Feb 2, 2011)

thank you. 

i do try to make mention of my use of local product at every opportunity, but i think i just need to pimp it a LITTLE harder and maybe pursue local partnerships therein. wholesale opportunity is lacking as folks want sysco prices and volumes so small and inconsistent, it's unsustainable. HOWEVER, i'm looking into beefing up a strong online cookie game. it's the one thing i can make in large quantities, package, and ship without as much concern for shelf life.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Cookies are a good way to go, retailers love the shelf life and the bragging rights to “locally made”


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## jcakes (Feb 18, 2007)

customers who are shopping on price (I found someone who will do it cheaper) aren't going to be your repeat customers; they are looking for a deal and will only buy when they find one. Customers who appreciate the quality will not have a problem paying more because they recognize you aren't mass producing stuff with cheap ingredients; and those are your repeat customers. Reaching more of them is the goal.

Without knowing what kind of product you produce (breakfast pastries? desserts? cake? cupcakes? all of the above?) it's hard to offer suggestions about how to increase your market share. Are these pop ups related to a community group (religious, school) that you are part of or just local vendors coming together to capitalize on holiday shopping (our town does something like that on the first Friday of December; all the Main St retailers offer specials and encourage people to shop local)? What kind of social venues, caterers, etc are in your area that you can approach and get wholesale business? You can always set minimums (e.g. order cupcakes by the dozen only) just like the big boys.


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## pastrysautegirl (Feb 2, 2011)

jcakes said:


> customers who are shopping on price (I found someone who will do it cheaper) aren't going to be your repeat customers; they are looking for a deal and will only buy when they find one. Customers who appreciate the quality will not have a problem paying more because they recognize you aren't mass producing stuff with cheap ingredients; and those are your repeat customers. Reaching more of them is the goal.
> 
> Without knowing what kind of product you produce (breakfast pastries? desserts? cake? cupcakes? all of the above?) it's hard to offer suggestions about how to increase your market share. Are these pop ups related to a community group (religious, school) that you are part of or just local vendors coming together to capitalize on holiday shopping (our town does something like that on the first Friday of December; all the Main St retailers offer specials and encourage people to shop local)? What kind of social venues, caterers, etc are in your area that you can approach and get wholesale business? You can always set minimums (e.g. order cupcakes by the dozen only) just like the big boys.


i do all varieties you've listed, plus macarons and other varietal pastries. the pop-ups aren't related to a community group; multiple spaces around the town rent out table space to max capacity and these pop-ups are present throughout the weekends every weekend through november and december; the town is a five block square radius and it hurts some of the other brick and mortar businesses as well.

while i realize folks buying at random and for low prices aren't going to be my repeat customers, my bottom line takes a hit every season throughout these pop-ups. my actual orders for thanksgiving and december are good, but my weekend revenue suffers.


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