Pop-Up
Shops and vending have become preeminent events in our modern landscape, as
throngs of DIY’ers and fledgling entrepreneurs strive to leverage their unique
talents and skills to engage with a public ever more desiring of boutique
products and services but also ever more drawn to the convenience of ‘on demand’
delivery and shopping online. Vending events
provide opportunities to set up shop, unburdened by the hefty weight of
mutli-year lease agreements, to test out marketing approaches or product
response, while also creating a space with a special chic or vibe for folks to
hang out for a day and try something new.
On May 15, 2021, DAP Tales and I and fellow GNG member Yvonne Walker
took to the streets, Pryor Street in downtown ATL, to be exact, meet the
public, met some local vendors and just hang out.
Vendors Across The City is an intermittent pop-up event that takes its moniker from the vendor’s coalition of the same name, a group of merchants and independent business people seeking to take advantage of today’s shifting retail climate. This time it was in a small street-side lot a mere stone’s throw away from Turner Field parking. Warm, bright weather, bustling traffic and a constant pedestrian presence: all the hallmarks of an ideal vending day in the heart of Atlanta.
Yvonne tables glittered in the early afternoon sun, showing off the many-hued, polished stones of her Artistic Kitten Collection of handmade jewelry and adornments.
Just next door to DAP & I, on the other side, was GNG Friend Jenelle Charleswell, whose Nelly Fash Balloon Decor had created an entrance to our vending world, by way of an array of balloons in a rainbow arch. When not making parties and events come alive with color, Jenelle also is a seamstress, and has sewn by hand a custom costume for our future RGN mascot. Thanks, Jenelle!
Beats and melodies always set off the vibe right, at any good vending event and the air stayed filled with music as DJ Anthology kept it live, all afternoon.
Although the space itself was not large, the vendors had come out in full force and there was some of everything you could want to find available: clothing, Party Decor, a Pop-Up nail salon, mixed drinks in single serving bottles, cigars for the smoke crowd, and of course, food of at least a few different flavors.
The Bean had come to hang out with us for the day, and got some curry and rice from Friends For Hire Catering, before joining me on my rounds to meet all our fellow vend-folk.
I myself waited until I had traversed the
full gamut before finally getting my grub on from Mack’s Smokehouse; he had
pulled his smoker-on-wheels all the way from Texas. Props to Big Mack on the ribs! For dessert, we grabbed a couple of slices of
cake from Dee’z Little Cakes.
By
the time we packed up and pulled out for the day, we hadn’t done too badly on
Primary Colors & Me sales, our bellies were good to go and we’d enjoyed a
music filled day of that special vibe that is at the core of the pop-up vending
experience. Welcome to the modern era of
commerce, Y’all!
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