PEABODY — North Shore shoppers turned out in droves Saturday at two local pop-up marketplaces offering an impressive assortment of hand-made treasures and trinkets.
From handmade chocolates and sweets to personalized items for home and hearth to honey and wine, there was something for anyone looking to get a head start stocking up for Valentine’s Day.
At the Peabody’s Black Box Theater on Foster Street, lines formed early for the Handmade with Love Pop-up Marketplace.
“We have some beautiful things here today and some wonderful vendors offering unique items you just can’t find anywhere,” said Black Box Events Coordinator and Bella & Harvey owner Lisa Geczi. “I think we had more than 100 people come in during the first two hours or so and there was a long line early”
Across town on Pulaski Street, more than a dozen vendors set up at Mills 58.
“Business has been fabulous. I did great today,” said Denise Bouchet of Revere, owner of Pour Your Art Out, a company that makes one-of-a-kind decoupaged posters and prints featuring iconic landmarks and other images from individual cities and towns. “I sold out of a few things and also took several orders, so it was a successful day.”
The Handmade with Love event, the brainchild of spotlight sponsors Flow Yoga Studio, Wine Shop at Home/ Eleanor the Wine Lady, and Breaking Grounds Cafe, along with sponsors Salem Five Bank and the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce (PACC), limited shoppers to 10 at a time due to the pandemic, but there was no shortage of enthusiasm among shoppers.
Patti Milley of Saugus said she came to support her friend, Tanya Vynorius, the owner of Peabody-based Craftables & More.
“She is incredibly talented so that’s why I am here,” said Milley, who had her arms full of chocolates, salted caramels and items purchased from the Salty Sea Gypsey
“I also need to order a house-warming gift for my nieces who just bought a new home,” Milley added.
Flow Yoga owner Beth Cronin said she was grateful to have an opportunity to interact with the public after being forced to close her Peabody-based studio during the pandemic.
“Sadly we did have to close, but like so many businesses we adapted to the very new world we now live in and moved our business online,” Cronin said. “The turnout today has been great, doing these events is the difference between doing things well and surviving and not.”
Wendy Lattof, owner of Create and Escape on Main Street in Peabody said she was impressed with the level of traffic at the Black Box event.
“I’ve done craft fairs for years and this is as much traffic as I’ve seen. People are just happy and excited to be out and shopping and have been very supportive of trying to give back to the community and support their local artists and are just happy to be out seeing other people,” she said. “This is one of the best craft fairs I’ve attended in a long time.
Lattof said her best-selling items were custom cutting boards, especially the ones with the Peabody “coordinates,” Other popular items were her Kids-appropriate craft kits which included cookies and ceramic figurines, like gnomes and unicorns, that kids could take home to paint and decorate.
and that she has seen an increase in people booking events at her Main Street studio.”
PACC Executive Director Beth Amico was at The Black Box not just as PACC executive director, but to check out the merchandise.
“I was psyched and so happy,” she said. “This has been done the right way and allowed small businesses to come in and thrive and allow people – including me – to feel like they can come in safely and buy Valentine’s gifts or a little of something.”
Both Mills 58 and The Black Box have plans for future events. Mills is planning to stage three more pop-ups, the next one happening on Feb. 20, while plans are in the works for a Mother’s Day pop-up at The Black Box.
“That’s the next big gift-giving holiday,’ said Geczi. “Our vendors brought it today for Valentine’s Day. They know what people will want for the holiday coming up, things that they will need, and we will be looking perhaps to add some different vendors that cater to Mother’s Day.
“Having both events is great as it gives more people the opportunity to get out and support local small businesses. People can come here and then go there to the Mills. Our vendors are unique to us and from what I know, their vendors are the same, so it just gives people more things to choose from. I think it’s great.”
