Small Business Saturday in Little Rock's downtown offers up variety of local wares

Fanny Salgado looks at crystals on display from a vendor Saturday at the small-business festival in Little Rock’s downtown River Market District.
Fanny Salgado looks at crystals on display from a vendor Saturday at the small-business festival in Little Rock’s downtown River Market District.

At soap-maker Najiba Moyer's stand in downtown Little Rock, Saturday shoppers sniffed the conventional, like shea butter, and the unexpected, like dragon's blood.

Dozens of stands like Moyer's lined both sides of the 300 block of President Clinton Avenue. Entrepreneurs hawked honey, hats, household goods and Hogs-themed knickknacks from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Dueling piano players banged out classic hits from Elton John, Poison and Chuck Berry outside the Ernie Biggs bar.

Saturday strollers could buy mimosas, beer and wine. Proceeds benefited the Downtown Little Rock Partnership.

The partnership, in conjunction with the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, put together the inaugural "Small Business Saturday" event for the River Market District. A much smaller event was held last year in the "South Main" neighborhood.

Small Business Saturday is a relatively recent event meant to steer holiday shoppers away from franchises and online retailers and toward their local sellers. The phrase is trademarked by American Express.

"We feel it's important to support our local businesses and our local entrepreneurs," said Gabe Holmstrom, the partnership's executive director.

"One of the things we wanted to do is create an event that would attract attention to those folks and create a space that people could come out to that had a whole lot of retailers at one time," he said.

With about 40 booths, open storefronts and Christmas karaoke, Saturday's environment countered the typical Black Friday shopping frenzy, Holmstrom said.

"You're not going to see any deals on big-screen TVs at this event," he said.

Moyer, who brews soaps and scrubs at home, said she sells most of her products in person. People are hesitant to buy soap online because they can't smell it, she said.

An older man with a foot-long gray beard thanked Moyer for the beard wax he bought. The wax was scented with dragon's blood, a plant byproduct.

He twirled the ends of his bushy mustache and asked her to concoct a mustache wax for him as well.

A few stands away, Irene Chedjieu stood watch over her brightly patterned frocks.

Chedjieu said she's sold bangles, kente bags and authentic African clothing for the past two summers after her husband injured his spinal cord. They have four children to take care of, she said.

"I asked the Lord to guide me to something," Chedjieu said. She recently opened her store, Desirene Afrik, at 5919 H St. where she imports wares from African countries like Cameroon and Ivory Coast.

For Beth McMore, a small-business fair gives vendors the chance to speak with customers directly. When advertising her crystals, she consults The Crystal Bible, a book that details the healing powers of the stones.

On Saturday at her stand, she spoke with a man and woman concerned about arthritis.

"They can see [the crystal], touch it, talk to me in person," McMore said.

That physical interaction with a product is crucial, and it's something online shopping can't provide, said Diana Long, who oversees River Market operations at the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"I make a lot of returns because this [item] photographed beautifully. It looks awful now," she said.

Lea Allen said that before she started her company, The Rainbow Bear, she remembered a business lesson from a former occupation: "Shoppers are happiest when they're shopping for toys and electronics."

Also, "colors make everybody happy," she said with a stuffed green snake wrapped around her neck.

A throng of people remarked on the cherry red and orange wooden trains, animals and other pull-string toys she displayed.

"Great whimsy," said Dave Clark, 68, who was visiting from Minnesota. "And she didn't pay me to say that."

He purchased an elephant for his granddaughter and a turtle for himself.

Crowds strolled up and down a sunny President Clinton Avenue enjoying Saturday's warmer weather. Some of those people spilled onto River Market Avenue and into LUV, a clothing boutique.

Employee Carra Sawyer said the store caters to the fashion sense of Little Rock women. The owner stocks geometric jewelry from Korto Momolu, a Liberian-born fashion designer with ties to central Arkansas who appeared on the fifth season of Project Runway.

A lot of LUV's business comes from people passing through Arkansas, like travel nurses and flight attendants, Sawyer said.

Regardless, Sawyer said she wants to believe that "people do have a place in their hearts for small businesses."

Even when traffic from locals isn't heavy in the River Market District, downtown Little Rock still has a solid base for small businesses, vendor Barbara McMahan said.

McMahan often sells her greeting cards to tourists or people who are in town for conferences.

"They want something to remember their experience in Little Rock that's not a Razorback," she said.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Grace Edwards helps her son, Dylan, 5, make an elf hat as her daughter, Corinne, 5, works on hers at a children’s craft area during the small-business festival Saturday in downtown Little Rock.

Metro on 11/26/2017

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