Two local ladies are bringing a new year round shopping experience to Cochrane.

Cochrane has seen a growing number of markets being held in town over the last couple years and good friends Raelle Rivoire and Jocelyn Flaherty both decided to test the waters on whether a year round market is viable for the Cochrane area.

Rivoire shares she is looking forward to a variety of vendors being present at the Rustic Charm Market and is a providing an opportunity for MLM (multi level marketing) businesses, artisans, and those that handcraft, grow, or bake their wares to have a table. In fact, the Rustic Charm Market will be completely different from other markets held in Cochrane. "We just want to give all the local businesses in town that don't have the opportunity to rent out the big spaces in town or that are getting pushed out by the big stores that are coming in a chance to get more interactive with their clients."

With tough economic times, Flaherty feels this may be a great solution for keeping people shopping local and owners connecting with their customer base. "Having everyone all in one place and having people come and actually meet them is a lot more personable and they will get a lot more clientele instead of people going elsewhere."

Besides being able to shop; Rivoire is looking at networking with a variety of groups, organizations, and fundraisers so community members can learn about resources and upcoming events within the community.

Children will also be able to get in touch with their creative sides. Rivoire is offering up her own time to teach children crafting skills prior to market days so they can take their own creations and sell them at the market. "We wanted to involve the kids and give them an avenue where they can be creative. There is a lot of things kids can do in Cochrane but not a lot of things they can do for free, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to sell macaroni necklaces or paintings or what ever they would want to."

The market which could handle 80-100 vendors is already sitting at 40 confirmed tables with another 30 registration packages waiting to come in and Flaherty encourages anyone who may be interested in a table whether at the September market or another date, to get in touch. Another bonus is the ladies are not pre-selling a year long table so they ensure equal opportunity for all businesses and representatives to be involved. "We have basically every single rep that you can think of coming to the market and if they do one market someone else gets the next market, so we're always going to have a chance for every single rep to have an opportunity to be at our market."

If you would like to book a table you can find information here.

Dates for future markets are set for October 28 and 29, November 25 and 26, December 2 and 3 as well as 16-17. More market dates will be announced in the new year, once the ladies decide whether demand is there for bi-weekly or monthy market dates. The markets will run 11am-5pm at the Cochrane Lions Event Centre.