The food vendor for our Sept. 20 Makers at the Museum had confirmed with me a couple of times since summer, as recently as July 16.
Four days before the market, I reached out to confirm one last time. Only then did I receive the terse, dreaded response from the food truck owner:
“Unfortunately something has come up & unfortunately we will not be able to attend this Sunday’s Makers at the Museum. Wanted to reach out as soon as possible. Thanks!”
No apology, no suggestion of a replacement.
Whatever came up (I hope it wasn’t something bad), I had to scramble to find another food truck. (As bad luck would have it, we rescheduled, confirmed a new food truck, and then had to cancel the September show because of the weather forecasts.)
At least it wasn’t one day’s notice, as happened with a food vendor at our July 2025 makers market.
Of the 19 Makers at the Museum shows since July 2024, maybe one-third of them have been complicated by the food vendor: backing out or breaking long-term commitments or leaving early (sometimes without checking in with me first).
And I’ve been complicit because I’ve done things for food vendors that I don’t do for our artisan vendors. From the outset of our markets, because our shows were new and unproven, I booked only one food vendor per show. I wanted to give that vendor the best opportunity at success.
After a few shows, I also decided not to charge food and beverage vendors (it’s $60 for artisans), knowing that they take a bigger risk in terms of the perishability of their product.
But for too many food vendors, the loyalty runs only one way. Backing out of my shows costs them nothing.
Showing up and staying
And that’s the thing about pop-up markets: They only work if all of the parts work together toward the common goal of delivering a first-rate event.
They’re a temporary community, like a circus coming to town, beautiful in their fleetingness. Yet enduring values still matter, such as respect for everyone else involved. That means showing up and staying until the end, no matter how well or poorly you do.
Because there are no guarantees in any type of retail. All of the planning and promotion in the world doesn’t mean success, and every show has its winners and losers.
Having participated in hundreds of pop-ups, I know that there’s often no rhyme or reason to the financial outcome. A show that was great one year might be terrible the next. Weather, competition from other events, the economy, they’re all significant yet unpredictable factors in how a given show performs.
But I would argue that food and beverage have better odds than artisan vendors. We all have to eat and drink; no one really needs a T-shirt or candle.
I’ve criticized makers in the past for not adhering to these values. Now it’s the food truck community’s turn.
To be sure, I’ve had great experiences with food trucks. For instance, Perry Pizza Co. and Paper Moon Waffle & Co., whose owners have delivered for our shows. The biggest hero: Dan from Pretzel Spot Cafe, who came to our rescue the morning of our July 2025 show.
They’ve been the exceptions more than the rule, however.
Far too often, dealing with food trucks leaves me with a case of indigestion.