The Conche: Oodaalolly Goes To Los Angeles for Unique Markets
The Conche
In chocolate, the conche is where chocolate goes to get mulled over, a finishing school that teases out its finer points.
At Oodaalolly, we think in terms of chocolate. The Conche is where we put out some of our finer ideas about chocolate, running a business, and whatever else we think should be up there.
What can we say about Unique Markets?
It exceeded our expectations, was exceptionally well organized and had a fantastic vibe. Oh, and we sold a lot of chocolate. On Friday, we used a cart to bring in everything we intended to sell, and on Sunday walked out only needing a couple of small bags—a great feeling.
How It Started
In 2019, we spoke to several contacts in SoCal about the best market for new brands, and the unanimous consensus was Unique Markets. But “you know what” popped up and ruined the next few years.
But we quickly applied once we learned 2022 was a go. Every line item in the budget is a concern for a business our size. For example, we considered sharing a booth to save costs. Ultimately, we opted for a mini-booth, which was a perfect fit. The event coordinator was a great resource in helping us decide on the best path forward. She followed up, offered to talk to our potential booth partners, and was super helpful in setting expectations.
The Build Up
Unique Markets wants its vendors to succeed. In the lead-up, all the vendors had an opportunity to participate in multiple marketing courses hosted by the fabulous Sonja Rasula, who made time for additional Q&A. Another nice touch was a vendor portal that participants had access to, providing general information, logistics, additional sales and marketing resources, merchandising, displays and signage tips and just a whole host of helpful information.
“Maintaining The Triangle” was the inside joke that Jeremy and I kept making when setting up our booth and preparing our products for display. We learned about this triangle/diamond theory from one of the vendor portal videos, and it seemed to work for us! All this made setup a breeze.
The Big Event
The doors opened on both days to crowds of people ready to shop. With the included Unique Markets tote, it was easy to drop some bars into their stuffed bags. The DJ kept the mood right, had music for everyone, and did not linger too long in a particular era, genre, or music—he was fantastic.
Hernan’s Lost Wallet
The DJ became friends with me because I thought I had lost my wallet! Moreover, the super friendly Unique Markets staffer sitting next to the DJ booth jumped on her walkie to inquire about a lost wallet she had seen earlier in the day. Sadly yet happily, the wallet was claimed by someone else. It turns out my wallet was sitting in the kid's seat in my car in the parking garage, and when the DJ asked me about it the next day when he saw me, he was super excited for me and was like, "I do that sh$% all the time," and we both laughed about it.
It was great to meet new people and see new smiling faces—people were genuinely happy to be there—but we also were blessed to see folks who had had our chocolate before and were excited to see us in person in Los Angeles. We even had people who purchased on Saturday come back on Sunday to pick up some more chocolate—it turns out a nibble grew into a bite, leading to an empty box!
Final Thoughts
Good people are good people—the customers and vendors we chatted with radiated good vibes. Charlotte, we want to see you in Chicago next year! Khaled, we want to get you more kapélaté! And Unique Markets, we want to make another appearance!
For entrepreneurs looking for an excellent place to vend their wares, we would 100% recommend Unique Markets!
