LEXINGTON, KY - A new market based on "the European outdoor experience" is set to launch in Lexington this Saturday, and organizers hope it will open doors for local women business owners at the same time.
The Urban Market at Lorillard Lofts, organized by the local women's advocacy organization Capacity, Inc., will welcome its first customers on Saturday, December 12, at 10 a.m.
The market will invite patrons "to wander through booths filled with flowers, local food, jewelry and vintage clothes, affordable home dÈcor, and a wide variety of products for self, friends, and family," said Sherry Piersol, who is a founding board member of Capacity, Inc., along with her daughter, Jessica Piersol, and Audra Cryder.
Piersol plans to include theme-oriented market days, entertainment and related exhibitors as well as a variety of vendors for the market, which will be open on the second Saturday of each month. Her intent is for The Urban Market to "offer an additional venue for the Farmers' Market, for florists, bakers, self and home improvement (vendors), specialty shops, artists, health and wellness (vendors) and more."
But beneath the open atmosphere and the varied offerings of The Urban Market is a push to further Capacity, Inc.'s underlying mission of creating more economic opportunities for female entrepreneurs. Vendors at The Urban Market must be women who own or manage a business or sell products independently or as part of a franchise from their homes. Representatives of nonprofit organizations which offer services to women, girls, and children are also eligible to participate.
Capacity, Inc. will also help vendors in The Urban Market with Web site development and joint marketing efforts. Piersol, who spent 25 years in community development work before starting Capacity, Inc., sees this collective effort as a way for these local businesses to sell beyond the community and "ultimately (create) a model for other communities to implement The Urban Market worldwide."
Vendors who will participate in the first Urban Market this Saturday include Vintage Clothing By Mary; Silpada Designs, featuring sterling silver jewelry by Tamara LaBore; Pretty In Pink, which has a shop in Versailles, with gifts and accessories for girls of all ages; and The Envelope Please, which sells personalized stationery, Christmas photo cards, gifts and candles.
Also selling this Saturday will be Third Fire Design, with vintage jewelry; stella and dot, offering personalized charms, classical and whimsical jewelry; and Premier Designs High Fashion Jewelry. Future Hope Children's Shop will offer hats, bows, flowers, headbands and other hair accessories for babies through teens.
The market will also offer selling opportunities for local representatives of larger companies such as Tastefully Simple, Mary Kay Cosmetics, True Blue Beer Cheese. An art gallery of work by female artists will be open in one of the lofts as well.
Many of the vendors will be cottage operations, with only one or two women working in the businesses at present. Piersol hopes that "as the market becomes successful, it will be able to support the expansion of current businesses, thus creating jobs, a very important goal."
Piersol said that with an exhibit fee of only $50 per month, The Urban Market is a great location for a woman who "aspires to begin a new business and wants to test the market." Right now she and her vendors are hoping to be a destination spot for holiday shoppers who don't want to deal with traffic and crowds and who are looking for unique and handmade presents to give. Gift wrapping also will be available at The Urban Market.
Piersol noted that by using space that was sitting empty at the renovated tobacco warehouse, women business owners who couldn't afford to pay for space outside of their homes have a chance to network with other women business owners and to show their products to many more customers.
Another advantage is that the "cost to customers is less because (they) are buying locally and the advantage to the community is huge, as (we) are giving back to the local economy," she said.
Exhibit space for vendors is still available for December. Space for January can be booked now. For more information, call Piersol at (859) 583-8007.
For more information about Capacity, Inc., which is dedicated to advancing women, girls, and children, and improving economic opportunities for them, see www.capacityinc.org.
The market is the second Saturday of each month, 10 a.m. - 7p.m. at 201 Price Road.