• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Contact
    • About the Gabber
  • Get your Gabber
  • Support the Gabber!
  • News
    • Vote
  • Arts
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
    • The Gabs
    • Adopt A Pet
    • Voices
    • Take the Gabber
    • Obituaries
  • Events
    • View All Events
    • Add Your Event
  • Classified Ads
    • View Classifieds
    • Purchase A Classified
  • Current Issue

Holiday Shoppers Hit the Streets in Gulfport

December 1, 2020 by Laura Mulrooney

A woman in an orange tank top outside at a jewelry stall.
Beryl Oduor, a Kenyan native, is on a mission to help educate children in her home country. Part of the proceeds she earns from her fine gemstone jewelry goes to the Captain Silvery Academy, created by her late grandfather. Odour’s aunt in Kenya makes the beaded jewelry and ships it to her each week. “I like to support my home culture, so I bring in a lot of her work,” Odour said. “I then compensate my aunt for her art, hardwork and creativity and then send money every month to the school – so it goes full circle.” More at beryloduor.com. Photo by Laura Mulrooney.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are well known deal-hunting days to pick up gifts for the holidays. They even come with a little controversy, frowned upon for exploitation of employees along with focus on big-box stores that benefit a few individuals instead of whole communities. 

In an effort to redirect holiday money back to local economies, many organizations and communities now encourage folks to “shop small.”

On November 28, LocalShops1, SIK Promotions, the City of Gulfport and the Gulfport Merchants Chamber brought Shop Small Saturday to Gulfport streets unlike any year before. 

After LocalShops1’s annual, weekend-long Shopapalooza was canceled, founder Ester Venouziou focused efforts on a one-day Shop Small Holiday Market in Gulfport.

Over 100 local businesses benefited from Saturday’s event. 

Two women in a tent wearing face masks pose in front of clothes
Mother-daughter team, Angie and Spencer Goodwin, create up-cycled vintage clothing. “They’re all one-of-a-kind reworked pieces made from 90% thrifted and reused items,” said Spencer. While Spencer does the thrifting, mom does the sewing, and the duo designs together. Shoppers can get a pre-designed piece or create their own look at spennylane.com. Photo by Laura Mulrooney.

“We’re so grateful for the support of all the shoppers who came out to support local makers and small businesses,” Venouziou told the Gabber. “This was a much needed boost – not only financial, but also emotional, and it came at a time when so many of us needed it the most. Please remember to continue to support local as much as you can.”

“I want to give big thanks and appreciation to LocalShops1 and SIK Promotions,” said GMC President Barbara Banno. “They really aligned with our mission at the GMC, which is to bring business to our brick-and-mortar small business and I think all the businesses on the street would agree they saw an increase in business from this weekend’s event.” 

The event was a hit.

“Everything was perfect: the weather, the vendors and the event,” said Banno. “It just had this energy; it gave us a taste of normalcy that I think made it seem so much better.” 

SIK Promotions founder Suzie King echoed Banno’s sentiments: “It brought some normalcy and we supported small businesses. That was the whole point.”

A woman in a black shirt in front of a wall of art holding a leather design
Artist Iryna Okhota-Ahrens creates elaborate handcrafted jewelry, wall art and other accessories out of Turkish and Italian leather. Okhota-Ahrens studied the craft for years, beginning with simple floral pieces and expanding into more ornate work. Recently Okhota-Ahrens has focused on her newest passion, Picasso-inspired jewelry designs. More at IrynasArt.etsy.com. Photo by Laura Mulrooney.

Mother-daughter participants Spencer and Angie Goodwin, of Spenny Lane, originally signed on as Shopapalooza vendors. 

“We had a wonderful day at the event,” said Spencer. “It was technically supposed to replace Shopapalooza, so we were bummed that the event did not happen, but grateful to have had another market to pop up at.”

Other vendors were also happy to finally be out on the streets and back in the public eye. 

“We were very pleased with the event yesterday. It was very well organized and participation was very good, but also safe with plenty of open space,” said President of Skyway Dachshund Rescue, Inc. Stephanie Boyle. “We were very excited to be able to participate as this year has been pretty tough for us and so many others, especially small vendors.

“Most of our fundraising is done through community events,” Boyle continued, “and since this is only the second event, and by far the largest, for us since the pandemic it was very key to our efforts to raise funds to cover the medical costs of the little ones entrusted to us. It was truly a lovely day.”

Find these local vendors and many more at localshops1.com. 

A group of people in a tent wearing face masks with a dachshund
From left, Mimi, Patty Bowers, Stephanie Boyle, Melanie Roberts, My LowBoy, Sondra Begerow and April Zolnierek at Skyway Dachshund Rescue, Inc., an all-volunteer rescue. “We adopt out 50 to 60 pups a year,” said President Stephanie Boyle. Patty Bowers adopted Mimi in 2012: “She’s been such a blessing.” Visit fb.com/SkywayDachshundRescue. Photo by Laura Mulrooney.

A man in a tent with a face mask standing with hand-drawn art in frames
“We have made affordable, custom artwork since 1991,” said Chris Turley of Sentimental Art Florida. The artists hand-draw each portrait from a photo, primarily in charcoal, but also pen and ink, watercolor, pastel or oil. More at sentimentalartflorida.com. Photo by Laura Mulrooney.

A row of vendor tents on a street.
Photo by Laura Mulrooney.

 

by Laura Mulrooney

  • /gabbernews
  • /gabbernews
  • /laura_stringer_

Support the Gabber

Team Gabber brought back the print version of the newspaper, and we've redesigned our website to make it easier for you to get the news. We're not out of the woods yet, and every little bit helps pay our reporters, printer, and other expenses. Support local news and families — donate now to keep The Gabber Newspaper serving the community it loves!

Please support local news and The Gabber Newspaper!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gulfport Merchants Chamber, holiday market, LocalShops1, shop local, Shop Small Saturday, Shopapalooza, SIK Promotions

Primary Sidebar

Crossword

Sudoku

© 2021 All Rights Reserved | The Gabber Newspaper