In the forefront
RUNNING a business doesn’t just mean having a brick and mortar shop. More and more celebrities are dabbling in businesses and part-time ventures, and many have resorted to pop-up markets to hawk their wares.
One person who saw a potential in combining the two things – star and vendor – is actress and emcee Ifa Raziah. She is the CEO of Star Vendors, a newly-formed company that organises pop-up markets for celebrities as well as small entrepreneurs to sell their products.
Its first event is the Star Vendors Mega Raya Festival 2019 happening at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur on May 24-27.
Ifa said: “Celebrities are key to attracting a crowd. And since many of them are going into business, it only make sense to combine the two elements.”
Within two months of forming the company, Star Vendors has secured 60 celebrities to participate in this upcoming event.
Ifa shared that she personally contacted and visited the celebrities to join her event as she knows many of them. “It is important to include artistes who have their own businesses to be part of something like this.
“They have thousands of followers on social media, which in turn means an attraction factor for the shoppers and fans alike because Mega Raya Festival will allow them to come in direct contact with the celebrities.”
The company is also planning to set up pop-up markets in Sarawak, Sabah and Johor. It will stage one more event in Kuala Lumpur before the year ends.
Here are two themed pop-up markets, happening in conjunction with Hari Raya, where you can catch a glimpse of your favourite celebrities and maybe score a good bargain.
Star Vendors Mega Raya Festival 2019
Happening at Hall 3 dan 4, PWTC on May 24-27, the festival starts at 10am, Friday, and ends on 10am, Monday. That’s 72 hours of nonstop shopping!
Ifa said there will be 453 booths, of which 75% have been rented out at press time.
“We have artistes like Datuk Rosyam Nor, Anuar Zain, Datuk Awie and Datuk Aznil Nawawi, who have never participated in pop-up markets before. Fazura and Fattah Amin have also signed up for one booth each to sell their brands of beauty products and baju melayu (respectively). Ziana Zain and Erra Fazira are other big names who are going to be there as well,” she said.
Naturally, the artistes will not be manning their booths for all 72 hours. “We will put out a schedule on our Instagram and Facebook (@starvendors) detailing when the stars will be at their booths,” she added.
Ifa expects to attract some two million shoppers to Mega Raya Festival.
Shoppers will also be treated to lucky draw with cash prize of up to RM60,000 and a one-night concert.
“We are looking at 10 ‘Star Vendors’ who are singers to take part in a two-hour Konsert Kemuncak Star Vendors Mega Festival happening on May 26 at 10pm.”
Mood Republik Raya 2019
This pop-up always draws a large crowd whenever it’s held and it has featured a number of celebrities promoting their brands.
In 2017, actress Janna Nick used a loudspeaker to attract buyers to purchase her brand of telekung, while in 2016, chatty host Didie Alias sold her line of headscarves Dhania.
Mood Republik Raya 2019 will be taking place at Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) from May 24 to 27, also for 72 hours.
Some of artistes taking part this year include Diana Danielle, Ayda Jebat, Aeril Zafril, Wawa Zainal, Fathia Latiff, Janna Nick and Emma Maembong. For more information on Mood Republik, go to Instagram or Facebook @moodrepublik.