A group of five women who are all small business owners with interests on the west side of Springfield are launching a Westside Market that will take place the first Sunday of each month, starting in June.
Celeste Malham, who owns FED Kitchen, which
recently merged with Papo’s Café, said she had a vision for launching a market and
decided to recruit others to help out.
“I had this idea and wanted to do it, but I
realized very quickly how big of an undertaking it is,” Malham said.
Shayna Gibbons Keely, who owns a boutique by
the same name in the strip center adjacent to Papo’s Café, agreed to help out. Olivia
Hyde, Emily Lewis and Starr Stouffe all came on board as well.
Malham said there are already 25 vendors
signed up to participate, and they’re currently mapping out the parking lot to
figure out how many more can be accommodated.
“We have tons of craft vendors and food
vendors, but we do hope to find more small farmers,” Malham said. “Farmers are
the heart of these kinds of markets.”
In addition to the vendors, Malham said there
will be a kid’s corner with activities for children and some non-traditional
participants.
“We have a couple of girls who do tiny
tattoos lined up, and we’re in talks with photographers to do some micro-sessions.
Somebody could come by and get a quick family photo at a very affordable price,”
she said.
“It’s
pretty empty on Sundays from 2-5 p.m., so we want to bring more vitality to that
strip mall,”
The
markets are scheduled for June 1, July 6, Aug. 3, Sept. 7 and Oct. 5. Malham
said the hope is to build momentum and move to offering weekly markets by the
following year.
