2 Friday, February 7, 2020 brooklintowncrier.com Sarah Gerditschke made cookies, really tasty and popular cookies. Using her mother's apartment as the cookie homebase, she called them Dream Day cookies because, well, she was making yours a dream day. Then she and a group of other home-based makers of cool stuff wondered how they could get their goods to more people than just through the occasional festival. Although everyone was a "maker" and loved the independence, there was still the issue of making people aware of their goods. Social media was the only real answer. So 18 of them decided to take a big step: they'd rent space in a building for the Nov-Dec, 2018, Christmas rush and see what happened. They took over a unit on the third floor above where the Copper Branch restaurant resides at 66 Baldwin in the heart of downtown Brooklin. Instant hit Then came the surprise. Using social media again as the communication vehicle, buyers flocked to the space. Obviously the vendors loved it, too. So Sarah thought about how this could turn into a business. A few months later, on April 1, 2019, she opened Markets by Dream Day. Now, nine months later, she says the biggest surprise she's had in the new business is how successful it's been. "When you go into a business like this," she says, "you sort of figure that within the first couple of years, you're not going to make your money back. Vendors are happy. I gave them their last cheque at Christmas time and I don't how many of them said this has to be wrong. That's the crazy part." From the initial group of 18, that same location has ballooned to over 75 vendors with about 20% from Brooklin. However, the rules for renting space in Markets are rather simple: only homebased local vendors with handmade goods are permitted. As well, when you apply, there can't be a duplication of goods. In other words, multiple makers of soap won't work. Rent space Sarah's business model is based on vendors renting monthly space from $65 to about $240 depending on the size required,. In exchange, vendors get to keep 100% of their sales. There are discounts for multiple month rentals (eg. 3 or 6 months) and for new makers, those who've been at it for less than a year. "It makes us different from other stores as we're 100% local and 100% handmade and we really want to stay true to that. Because I was a vendor myself, I wanted them to have a store within a store," she says. "A lot of makers can't afford a space of their own." Vendors who rent space in Markets get additional perks, such as the ability to host monthly pop-up workshops about what they create. Signage issue The one minor headache has been the limitation on signage to show people where the store is. It's why, Sarah points out, all her advertising makes it clear to park behind the store in the large lot and take the elevator to the third floor. So-called walk-up business would otherwise have to search to know it's there. However this hasn't seemed to hamper business much. In the end, the success of Markets by Dream Day has been for one simple reason. "People want to come in and shop local. They know they're supporting real people and the money is going back to an actual person." In April, she's opening a second location in Bowmanville which will be about three times the size of the Brooklin one and will allow for over 100 vendors. It will include small spaces to rent for vendors to use as offices and, in addition to handmade products, will include books. A Retail Success Story: Markets By Dream Day By Richard Bercuson