EDWARDSVILLE – Kristen Davis and her family came to the Edwardsville Winter Market and found something they didn’t know they wanted until they laid eyes upon it.
“You wouldn’t find this at Walmart,” Davis said as she unwrapped a small outfit for her elf on the shelf the family keeps at home.
These unique finds are what bring local community members to markets to support their local businesses.
Edwardsville Winter Market doubled in size this year from last year, filling the usual Goshen Market spot on St. Louis Street and expanding down North Second Street.
Vendors, some of which had familiar faces in the community, lined both streets and served packed crowds from 9 a.m. and well past the original ending time of noon.
One such familiar face was Edwardsville Fire Department Fire Chief James Whiteford.
In his spare time, Whiteford owns Under the Bark Woodworking, a wood crafts and furniture service operated by Whiteford.
“The downtown market is a great thing for Edwardsville,” Whiteford said. “Gives people an opportunity to interface with craftsmen and artisans and buy stuff that’s local.”
It was Whiteford’s first time setting up Under the Bark Woodworking at the Winter Market, or any other show, and he was excited about the turnout of customers. Whiteford had previously only sold products through Etsy.
“People get to see and touch what you’re making,” Whiteford added. “It’s hard to value something by just a picture. It makes a big difference.”
Another vendor without a traditional storefront is Christine and Wayne Nelson, who own Christine’s Salsa. Although the salsa appears in Schnucks and Market Basket, Christine said shows and markets like the Winter Market are better for business and the community.
“It’s good for us to meet people,” Christine said. “People come together and are happy in the Christmas spirit. I haven’t been able to do sampling in the stores, so it’s great to be able to hand out samples and see how people like the salsa.”
Trina Vetter, the special events coordinator for the City of Edwardsville Parks and Recreation Department, said vendors tell her that this is their favorite market to attend every year.
“The local community has come out,” Vetter said. “We’re bigger and better than ever this year.”
Vetter will be posting the different vendor booths from the Winter Market on Facebook over the next week so people can have another chance to reach out to vendors for products they might not have been able to buy at the market.
“This helps grow the community,” Leandra Brewer of Red Aspen said. “You’re helping the community when you shop local.”
"Market" - Google News
December 05, 2021 at 10:36AM
https://ift.tt/3lAEfri
Unique and local finds fill Edwardsville Winter Market - The Edwardsville Intelligencer
"Market" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Yge9gs
https://ift.tt/2Wls1p6
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bostonglobe/VNG7YMZTRWJ5WBFTJ5NVETPCQI.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment