PENSACOLA, Fla. — A local art market in Pensacola hosted its last event as the holidays get closer.
Small businesses and shoppers alike had a chance to get in any last-minute gifts while enjoying the Christmas spirit.
The setup was completely in the holiday spirit with twinkly lights, live music, food, and locally made trinkets.
“Shopping small and connecting with the community is what it’s all about, artist & founder at the Pensacola Arts Market Marri Salt said. “That’s all we want to do. We want to be here to connect, people come out to have a good day, and make friends.”
Salt says she created the market to build a supportive artist community.
“I hosted art at an art café and we were just in need of an art community about six years ago a lot of people were interested in having a space and I was welcoming and wanted to provide a space for artists and makers and vintage boutiques because we care about sustainability just grow naturally,” Salt said.
Salt says she partners with Gary’s Biergarten for a German winter market.
She says the holiday season usually draws in a bigger crowd.
Denise Terpack is the owner of Neepa Homestead.
She says holiday markets like these boost small businesses.
“Many people are looking for homemade gifts this year,” Terpack said. “They’re trying to stay awake from the big stores. Homemade is awesome, there’s a lot of love that goes into these products that all these vendors do.”
Jade McBride owns Let Ceia a gift basket business.
Mcbride says this is her first market and she enjoys how helpful vendors are to each other.
“They end up making you feel better because you are chit chatting and talking and now again customers are like ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘These gifts, that’s what we’re talking about,” Mcbride said.
She says joining local markets helped boost her visibility.
“With the business cards alone, everyone has popped over and visited,” Mcbride said. “You can see the algorithm on social media, it’s boomed. We have gotten messages about our ornaments and also some shirts. Believe it or not, we just finished a custom order for another small business this morning, so it’s been amazing.”
Salt says this is the last holiday market to give everyone a break.
She says the Pensacola Arts Market will pick back up on the first Friday in February.
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