Kori and her husband Steve opened the Coconut Barrel, an Artisan Market this past June. A crafter herself, she always found it difficult to find a place to sell her items so she came up with the idea to open this market as a place for other artisans to have a space to sell their crafts seven days a week.
What made you decide to open this business?
We moved to St. Augustine last September. One day I was driving around looking for places to sell my crafts, which are jewelry boxes made from pallets. They are larger items so it makes it difficult to find a place to sell them. On the way home I just prayed to the Lord; “What do you want me to do? Do I need to go back to the corporate world?” Which I didn’t want to do and on the ride home I got a vision to open a craft mall. I felt like there wasn't an avenue other than festivals for crafters to be able to sell their items seven days a week, plus festivals can be expensive and cumbersome.
How did you find this location?
My husband and I drove passed this building and saw them cleaning it out. The next day we decided to go take a look and check with the tent business next door to see if he knew who the owner was. When I arrived there was a sign for lease, so I think it was just meant to be.
What brought you to St. Augustine?
We are originally from Ohio and had moved to the West Palm area. St. Augustine kind of reminded us of back home, a little slower pace and much more laid back, so we decided to move here.
How was it when you first opened the Artisan Market?
We had a soft opening on June 1, at the time we only had twenty-five vendors so if I showed you a picture from when we first opened, it looked sparse compared to now. Within twenty-nine days our vendor spaces were sold out. Before our Grand Opening, we did a big mailing and had a 1,000 people show up. We were blown away!
How did you find the vendors?
We have 105 vendors and they rent their space here for their crafts. They are responsible for adding inventory and creating their displays. We have a system that sends them an itemized ticket daily so they can keep track of their inventory. We really only need one person up at the desk.
How’s it going since you opened?
We are really happy with the traffic that we're getting. We always try to do stuff on the weekends, maybe have a food truck or a special event.
The Coconut Barrel is located at 3175 US 1 South, Unit 3, St. Augustine FL 32086
Follow Coconut Barrel and check out their website for events:
Kommentit