South Street Art Mart opened as a holiday pop-up shop during the winter of 2018, but while the holiday season came and went, the Art Mart remained.
Six years later, they have an established storefront on Philly’s iconic South Street.
Owners Nicole Krecicki and Nicole Wiegand never envisioned their shop becoming permanent, but after receiving overwhelming support from the community, they decided to stick around.
“When it started off, it was just people we knew because they had to give us things quickly,” Krecicki recalled. “The pop-up shop was, like, 30 artists. And now we have about 200.”
From T-shirts and candles to keychains and postcards, each product is known to Krecicki and Wiegand, who can point shoppers in the artists’ direction. The store is intertwined in the local art scene and deeply rooted in the Philly community — something they pride themselves on.
The store serves as its own recruitment effort, in a way. Artists visit the store, and often recognize products from other independent, local artists. Many reach out to the shop, asking if their own art can be featured. Krecicki and Wiegand feature what they can, but try to limit competition between artists so that everyone has a fair shot at selling their wares.
Small business, big responsibility
It’s a power and a responsibility the pair take seriously as a small business.
“Shopping small, that’s community,” Krecicki said. “That’s knowing the person that works in the store, the person that owns the store. It does something that big box stores can’t do, especially when it comes to artwork.”
The holidays are obviously a big time for sales. For queer-owned businesses like South Street Art Mart, another important time is Pride Month (June), when shopping from small businesses can be even more empowering. Krecicki says that while it isn’t a bad thing that so many corporations celebrate Pride Month, supporting small, queer-owned businesses year-round can mean a lot more to the people who run those stores.
“The rainbow washing is not the point of Pride. It is to amplify and uplift the actual community,” Krecicki said. “We have a lot of queer artists in the shop. My wife and I are queer. If you shop at the Art Mart, you’re supporting queer artists any way you look at it.”
While South Street Art Mart might be a little crowded because of all of the amazing products from artists, the space isn’t moving out of South Street any time soon — and the business duo say they don’t have plans to open more stores.
Instead, Krecicki focuses on the idea that other stores like South Street Art Mart exist all around — places that exist to spread art and creativity in cities all around the country.
“It can happen anywhere because artists are everywhere,” She said.
But even if there were Art Marts around the country, no two of them would be the same. That’s what makes stores like South Street Art Mart so special.
‘Tis the season
The artists that are featured in the shop occasionally run artist pop-ups where they go outside of the store and feature their own artwork. South Street Art Mart also hosts some events, like Rex Manning Day in April, where they host a block party with vendors and music to promote local artistry in the city.
But beyond that, Krecicki implores people to remember small businesses like South Street Art Mart while they’re shopping for gifts. It helps them stay afloat, and it helps the artists in the shop.
“Running a brick-and-mortar store is hard. Running an online store is hard. Fighting with the algorithm, trying to promote both of those things on social media is almost impossible,” Krecicki said. “I hope that people will keep us in mind. Every purchase and every order helps the artist. It helps the shop. It helps keep this going.”
