This song should be a no-brainer for those of you who came of age in the 80′s and watched the popular (what would now be described as a “tween”) show, “The Facts of Life”. I spent countless hours with my sister watching Blair, Jo, Tootie, Natalie and Ms. Garrett weather the life of a private school family. I cannot really remember any of the lessons learned from the show but the song stuck (sorry if you can’t get it out of your head after reading this) and I guess by extension the song’s message stuck too.

And today this song popped into my head as I replayed yesterday’s events in my head where I made a business decision that I am not entirely comfortable with in part because I am not sure it was the right decision. Nonetheless, it was a decision that I am going to stand by. The short version: I run a weekly market for artists and designers in Brooklyn called Artists & Fleas  where 50 vendors a day come to sell their creations and collections. We have numerous designers who set up shop and sell every weekend and often cultivate a strong following. We aim to have a diverse selection of artists and designers and the application and screening process for new vendors enables us to do so. A marketplace is the ultimate place to test merchandise and get customer response.

The decision I made was to not permit a new vendor who came to sell last weekend and wanted to continue selling because this artist’s collection had a very close resemblance to a vendor who has been selling each weekend for over a year (it was this “veteran” vendor who brought the situation to my attention). I looked at both sides of the story: the new vendor felt that they had a right to sell and that customers could decide for themselves, the vendor who has been selling consistently felt their sales would (continue) to be impacted as it was difficult to distinguish between the different designs and customers would not purchase from either vendor as the uniqueness of the creations were diminished. I decided to support the vendor who had invested in the market to reciprocate our loyalty and support their business. But the discomfort I have persists. A key goal of our business is to support artists and designers and I recognize that I am compromising this goal. I am not sure if it is the right decision and I welcome some perspective. I also know your can’t meet everyones needs and that… Is a fact of life.

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