Shoppers wanting to find a few last-minute Christmas gifts did so while dodging puddles and clutching their umbrellas at the latest Triangle Pop-Up event at Triangle Beer Company on E. Durham Road in Cary. Despite the weather being dreary and cold, it seems the holiday spirit couldn’t be dampened.
Abby and Sarah Moody started Triangle Pop-Up a couple years ago as a way to showcase local small businesses, artists, and creators in the community.
“It’s really cool to see people still supporting the local businesses despite the awful weather,” said Abby.
The event was slated to have around 30 vendors, however only 20 or so were willing to brave the elements. Of the artists and vendors there, many are relatively new to the pop-up market scene.
Donovan and Ciji Richardson of Dusty Mill said this was only their fifth market after starting their business just eight months ago. What started as a hobby quickly turned into a woodworking business after garnering a lot of positive attention on social media. Now they participate in these markets as a way to connect with customers and network with other vendors.
Local artist Taylor Varron started painting last year but only recently opened up her business. This is just her third market to date.
“Once [COVID-19] hit, I had more time on my hands, so I got back into painting. A few of my friends commissioned me to do pet portraits for them, and I just went with it,” said Taylor.
Her catalogue includes custom pet portrait ornaments, cat calendars, and even a coloring book featuring a lovable dog named Ruby.
And then there’s Angel Martinez, a graphic designer by trade, now creator of a new clothing brand called Norm. After an encouraging nudge from his wife, Martinez opened his shop just a few months ago. This was only his second market. While foot-traffic for day may have been somewhat lackluster, he was in good spirits as he explained the vision and meaning of his brand.
“I’m a big extrovert,” said Angel, “so I love getting to meet people and talk to people about the brand and getting it out there.”
While many of the event’s vendors were relatively new, others have been around awhile.
Ashleigh Seiber, owner of Malas By Ash, has had an Etsy shop for nearly four years. She enjoys participating in a few pop-ups each year to connect with her customers.
“It’s fun to get to see people, meet people, and get to talk to people about the stuff I make instead of it just being online.”
“A lot of these people don’t have a physical place to sell their work, so we wanted to start Triangle Pop-Up to give them a place to do that,” said Sarah Moody. “And when we do these markets, we host them at local businesses, like Triangle Beer Company. We’re very much into supporting local business, and it seems like with COVID there’s been a bigger push to buy local.”
“There have been a lot of new artists that have emerged through COVID. A lot of people have turned to starting small businesses,” said Sarah. “We want to do whatever we can do to encourage that kind of economic growth in our community.”