What Happens When A Coffee Shop Becomes A Mini Marketplace

We explore how buying products on trade and selling for cash turns a neighborhood coffee roaster into a mini marketplace with strong margins and steady foot traffic. We share the Deer Camp story, compare it with big-brand marketing, and map out how local vendors can plug in fast.

• buying on trade, selling for cash as a cashflow lever
• Deer Camp’s curated local goods and café experience
• how trade associations connect retailers and makers
• lessons from Black Rifle’s investor-backed marketing
• roasting schedule, operating hours, and product mix
• vendor matchmaking to expand shelf variety
• examples of underused trade opportunities locally
• why the Cracker Barrel-style layout boosts baskets

DEER CAMP® Coffee Roasting Company | Café | Store | Michigan | Wild Game | Gifts

“If you’re near me, call me up 248-244-0000. Let’s have a conversation.”

Transcript

The Buy-On-Trade, Sell-For-Cash Idea

Inside Deer Camp’s Mini Marketplace

Why Their Model Draws More Customers

Competing With Black Rifle

Operations, Roasting, And Hours

Local Shoutouts And Missed Trade

Cracker Barrel Vibe That Sells

Next Steps And Vendor Matchmaking

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Trading Post Podcast, where we unlock the secrets of business-to-business trade, dive into powerful networking strategies, and share my exciting journey of using a podcast to market my business instead of relying on SEO. I'm your host, Trader Stew. Welcome back to the Trading Post, Trader Stu here, of course, and wanted to touch base on something that came up yesterday as I was signing somebody up. And basically, it's by buying trade, buying products on trade, and then selling for cash. And I wanted to touch on that real quick because I think it's a pretty powerful thing that if you're if you're not doing it, you're just leaving a good time on the table. So the member I just signed up, Deer Camp Roasting Company, Coffee Roasting Company, they of course roast coffee and in their stores, they have local vendors that uh sell products. So what they do is they just simply buy the product up front, probably at wholesale cost, right? And then they turn around and sell it along the borders of their store, kind of like a miniature cracker barrel, I guess you could say. Now, if you haven't been to Deer Camp coffee roasting company, you're kind of missing out too because I just discovered them that he actually called me up and wanted to sign up for Metro Trade because he's also a member of a competitor of ours. And it was suggested that he sign up with us as well because we're just have a bigger presence in his locations and where his stores are. It just makes more sense. So I went in there and with my wife, and wow, we spent we spent a lot of money, a lot of trade dollars, I guess you could say there, because they just had everything. They have, of course, it's deer camp, like you know, based, right? So it just fits with the theme of the show, the trading post. And it I bought a coffee mug, I bought a a tumbler, and it had a cool leather wrap on it, and uh, you know, with an embosing or imprinting of Deer Camp on it, pretty cool. Bought a bunch of sausage sticks and jerky and what else? Oh, syrup, maple syrup, one with uh some kind of cinnamon stick in it. They have local wines and local beers. My wife bought some product for like oils, like facial stuff, they got lotions and soaps. I mean, just any anything you want that you could think of, like in a farmer's market, they had it there. And it was really fun. And I think that that's kind of now, I don't know if it's the way of the future, if that sounds a little too much, but I think it's more businesses should do that to draw folk in. And something that's kind of powerful with them is that they're a member of a trading association, of course, and there's a lot of local vendors that are members of the trading association as well that just makes sense is how they're product in there, and they're if they're trying to get their name out and and put and get more trade in their account. You know, I called around and said, Hey, if you need more trade, man, like call up it's Julie and Anthony are the owners, call them up or any email them and see if you can sell product there because it just makes sense. And what's nice is that, of course, Deer Camp will get their trade by you know me going there or other members going there and getting coffee. And by the way, they're so big that their main competitor is Black Rifle Coffee Company. And Black Rifle has done a lot of marketing. They said that the big differences between them and and Black Rifle is that Black Rifle got investors, and so they were able to hit the marketing pretty hard. Of course, you see them on YouTube all the time. The owner always has fun commercials on YouTube, so yeah, and and of course, Black Rifles based towards veterans. And I was a member of Black Rifle Coffee Company as well for a while. I, you know, their their coffee subscription program, which they're working on. Deer Camp was working on doing something like that as well, but they already do ship nationally. So when they do brew, or I guess roast the coffee, and then for shipment, they have to close the stores because they're a that's a manufacturer. So they have to close up the store, brew, or I keep saying brew, but roast the coffee beans, bag it up. Once everything's bagged up, they can open and things of that nature. But as he said it doesn't really affect uh operations because they will roast usually after the store closes, I think maybe even before, because even though it's a coffee shop, they don't have they're not open at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. They're open, I think it's 9 to 3 or 10 to 3 or something like that, right? So it's a kind of like a lunch-brunch situation. They have food there. I had this a sausage with uh maple syrup on it at a Kaiser Roll. You I mean, you really gotta check them out. They're in Dodge Park Road in Sterling Heights if you're local and in a Harrison Township. And if you're not local and you want to try some coffee that's been roasted right here in Metro Detroit, like I said, Deer Camp, and I'll put their links in the description too for their website, and then you can buy their coffee online and get it shipped to you. So let's see what else. But oh yeah, okay, we're going into the buy why that's a powerful thing. So for them, it's kind of a no-brainer. Like he said he wanted to find more local vendors that he can sell their product, so he's gonna get a bunch of trade, hopefully, if I keep my promise. So the other member he's he's a member of, he's only done a couple thousand dollars with over the course of the year, and that's not exactly a lot of money, like you know, obviously. So let me turn this volume down real quick on my phone. I'm in the office. So I'm hoping I told him I said I'll spend two grand with you over the course of the year alone. I mean, but if you're doing coffee and beer and wine, like I'll I'll spend that and food too. Like, I mean, it's easy. So, but I he's already made, I think I already got him 500 bucks in business. I'm not worried about it. And I don't see how he only did a couple thousand with the other association, but that's none of my business. Anyway, so he's in a buy or she is the the owner is I only reason why I say he, I keep saying he is I talked to Anthony. I haven't talked to really Julie yet. Julie is the actual owner, it's a women-owned company, but I don't really have the relationship with her, so just for you know, like I guess forgive me saying that he, he, he, because that's who I talked to for half an hour on the phone was Anthony, the other co-owner or whatever. So, anyway, uh, where was I? So I said, Yeah, good, you're gonna you can sell the products on or buy the product on trade with your trade dollars. The vendors are gonna like it because they're gonna get their trade. Then he's gonna be able to turn around and sell the product he bought on trade on for cash. So it's a win-win for everybody all around because some of the places like I cannot understand why Great Lakes Pop Pie Company hasn't done thousands of dollars yet. Their pot pies are awesome, and she even sells the cinnamon sugar pot pie crust bits at Meyer. I bought a bunch of bags the other day at Meyer, they're on clearance, and yeah, I don't know. I don't know, they're good. I don't get it. And she sells them in the store too. I saw them on the rack, I was like, what? No way, I didn't know that. I mean, I knew she had distribution uh either to Meyer and I think Walmart and other places in the area, and she ships all over the country, and she's got this little place in the strip mall, Clausen, Michigan, and she they make all the pot pies and they do chicken and apple and cherry, of course, and you know, Thanksgiving pot pie for Thanksgiving time is really good. It's like everything you want in Thanksgiving meal on one pot pie bang. And we started making them at home homemade because they were so good. Any rate, so I think that's gonna hit that kind of angle up more for places to sell on trade to local vendors, like at like a restaurant and things of that nature, and then that way everyone wins. The cracker barrel theme is cool. Everyone likes cracker barrel because it's fun. You go in there, you wait for your table, you're shopping around. You know, in our case, my wife and I, we ordered and then we shopped around, spent a bunch of money, and then ate, shop more, actually, and then checked out, you know. So I it's this is the the thing that we're gonna do now. I'm excited. You can tell. I'm excited because I can't even talk about it. Like, I'm just like my mind is cranking as I'm talking. I get other ideas. You know, yesterday I totally forgot we have Pretty Hunter that takes trade, and she is perfect for the deer camp, right? It's a the same theme, it's ammo, right? So anyway, oh and this place deer camp, they sell venison sausages, I think, like you know, like brats, venison brats, venison, uh think nachos. So anyway, go to their website, it's really cool. And I just wanted to touch on that real quick and talk about how you can also, if you're if you're like I said, a local vendor, like a farmer's market or what do you call artesian markets, you're not taking trade, you're just leaving money on the table. And it's just you need to sign up for a trade association near you. If you're near me, call me up 248-244-0000. Let's have a conversation. I'll tell you how it works, and we'll go from there. All right, that's it. Be good or be good at it.