A Cold and Rainy Weekend: Universal Windows Direct at the Farmers Market in Minneapolis

I’m sitting here this morning sipping my Costa Rican coffee that was roasted last Monday, shipped to the Twin Cities, and purchased by me at the Mpls Farmers Market on Saturday.   That is one thing I love about the Farmers Market.  You could find anything there.

Here we are - excited to start the day!

This last weekend the Mpls Farmers Market officially opened for the summer.  The alarm went off at 5am, the thermometer read 40 degrees and it was raining.   Normal people would not go out in this, but we were excited to get out there  and see the vendors we had missed all winter.  Here we are at the beginning of the day.   Mostly set up and still thinking the rain would stop.

The excitement quickly faded.  The rain did not stop.

Rain rain go away!

It picked up a few times.  It blew in at us.  It occasionally dumped off the awnings that were above us; but it did not stop. We could see our breath but we could not see any customers.   Let’s be honest.   It wasn’t Farmers Market weather.  It was stay at home and eat Pancakes in your PJ’s weather.   Lots of vendors never set up and many vendors left early.

Cold and rainy corner

Normally quite crowded, here is what our corner of the market looked like.  If you look really closely you can see Francis Metal Works right next to us. ( We love working next to Val.     He brought some fresh strawberries to share with us and we were happy to return the favor with some HOT fresh cut french fries a little while later.  But I digress.)

If you’ve ever met Steve Brager, then you know he doesn’t give up.   After Val left he decided to make the most of it and we carried our display up to the row of vendors that was mostly full and where we could hear the radio.  I was freezing cold so I just sat on my stool and tried not to let everyone I saw see how miserable I was.   Steve caught the second wind he was looking for and started talking to everyone he saw about everything that was there.  By the time we left he had talked customers into buying soap from Wild Twig and French onion soup from the market chef.   If you were there you overheard him saying:

• “You don’t need windows?  Well, you still shower right?  How about some SunSunny soap.   That sounds nice, doesn’t it?”
• “Hey you look cold.  Why don’t you warm up with some soup?  We have chili and french onion!”
• and, obviously "Windows?  Siding?  Doors?"

His efforts paid off as he even set a lead for windows for later this week!

I won’t lie.  I was happiest when he finally said “Let’s go.”  I had purchased a bag of Costa Rican coffee from the couple sitting next to me and I was anxious to get home and brew some.    We lasted 6 hours.

Next weekend it will probably be 70 degrees and sunny. Minnesota is just that crazy.   When you come out the Market stop by and say hello.  But if next weekend is another bone chiller, you can always visit our website at UniversalWindowsMN.com.