Today, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, Sara and I headed to the Caquetá market ¹ with an important mission: to find a pendant (commonly called a Mosquetón ² hook) of better quality for our Pompitas accessories.
Initially, our Pompitas had a hook that we acquired in Centro de Lima ³, in one of the shops where we love to get lost for hours: Galería Waba ⁴. It’s a perfect place for lovers of “chucherías” ⁵ like us. We love taking a piece of alpaca fiber and being able to experiment with different textures or materials. At Waba, we found beads, hooks, quartz, and all kinds of costume jewelry products one can imagine.
Over time, we realized that the hook on our Pompitas was a bit thin; perhaps it would be best to look for a thicker and better quality one. We never had any complaints about these hooks; however, we both always agreed on the idea of constantly improving our products. If we have a better idea, then we execute it.
So, we went to Caquetá market, and found a variety of carabiner hooks: However, there was something that didn’t fully convince us. Perhaps we were hopeful to find something less common. So, asking around, we found these hoop-shaped hooks, which we loved:
But as nothing is perfect in this life, these hoop-shaped hooks were perfect; however, the person who attended to us, not so much. We could assure that this person wanted everything in this life except to attend to customers, so we decided to look elsewhere.
That’s how, walking from pavilion to pavilion, we met our dear Luis, who treated us like another friend, knowing that we didn’t want to buy a large quantity. I emphasize this because we have dealt with many suppliers, and a large majority changes their treatment when they realize that you are a small entrepreneur, and not a large company that will purchase three thousand units.
Luis had these hoops at a better price, and to top it off, he got us a chain that matched perfectly with the silver tone of the hoop, so from now on he will be our accessory supplier. Thanks, Luis!
Something we really enjoy about starting a business is meeting new people. As we walked, we met weavers, which was a pleasant surprise for us since we have the idea of diversifying into weaving; however, we didn’t know where to start recruiting weavers. This could be a start. This day was extremely productive!
¹Caquetá Market is a popular market located in Lima, Peru. Specifically in the Rímac district. It is a market where you can mostly find all kinds of accessories and shoe and jewelry complements.
²Type of metal hoop.
³Centro de Lima is also a market located in Lima, Peru. Specifically in the Lima Metropolitana district. Unlike Caquetá, it is surrounded by tourist activity since this market is close to the government palace and various emblematic squares. In this market you can also find jewelry and accessories at low prices.
⁴Store located in the Centro de Lima.
⁵It is colloquially called to all kinds of trinkets.
