Niverville’s newest retail shop is bringing artisans and local business owners together into one space with the Niverville Pop-Up Shop.
The shop, located at 227 Main Street, in the same building as Foodie Panda, had their opening day on Saturday, October 13. The shop will run periodically until mid-December and feature products from a variety of local businesses.
“With the holiday season around the corner, this gives many local crafters, artists, and small businesses the opportunity to showcase their work and bring in some unknown customers who might not know about their products or services,” says Kristina Gerbrandt, Pop-Up Shop’s creator. “Many people travel to the city to do their shopping. Renting a retail location for some vendors might not be an option, so allowing them to show their work in a retail setting instead of their home is a great opportunity.”
The location felt like a natural fit for the shop, as it had been vacant for some time and was already zoned as commercial space. The only thing for Gerbrandt to do was submit a request to town council and take advantage of the central location to drive interest. Originally designed to showcase handmade items and give artisans a place to sell their work outside of craft shows, the shop has since opened itself up to both handmade and direct sale businesses.
“Vendors vary from week to week, and the ratio is 50/50 between handmade and direct sales,” Gerbrandt explains. “More handmade vendors would be great, but it seems like it is hard to find those who want to showcase their handmade items. [As] vendors do vary from week to week, [it] allows people to keep coming back to see other vendors. Some might be the same as well, depending on who registers that day.”
