The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
FAMILY MATTERS
Trendy Pop-Up Shop aims to create family atmosphere among vendors
“...We just want to offer it to the community, something to get out and intermingle, get to know vendors and what they sell...” — Deb Yanchar
Lynette Moses described it like a big family.
Moses has been a vendor at the Trendy Pop-Up Shop for about four months. Her business, Mo’ Sweets, was among the 63 vendors participating at the group’s April 10 “Spring Fling” event at LaMalfa in Mentor.
Moses said she started her business about a year ago and sells foods like pound cakes and caramel corn. She said her experience with the Trendy PopUp Shop events has been amazing so far and has provided a big boost during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The family-like atmosphere Moses described is something Trendy Pop-Up Shop administrators Deb Yanchar and Monica Koczan have tried to cultivate.
“We’re family here,” Koczan said. “When we have events we all come together. We travel with our same vendors.”
Yanchar said they look out for the best interest of all their vendors. She said when she started the Trendy Pop-Up Shop, she felt that there were not enough events that offered local businesses opportunities to make money.
“So I wanted to start something where local vendors could prosper and grow their business, at a
reasonable price,” she said.
Koczan said they felt that many events overcharge for vendors.
“So we wanted to make it affordable, reasonable and we’re all about supporting local businesses and bringing people to the community,” Yanchar said.
Yanchar said they average about 60 businesses at each event, about 90 percent of their vendors are based in Lake County. The Trendy Pop-Up Shop holds events year round with LaMalfa as their “home base.”
From October through May, the events at LaMalfa are held indoors. Starting in
June, the events are moved outside. The outdoor events are held from 4-8 p.m. from June through September in the front of LaMalfa.
The final indoor events of the season are being held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 1 and May 29.
“(LaMalfa Owner) Marty LaMalfa has given us an amazing opportunity, and all the local vendors, to set up here and to set up outside when summer hits... he has been a blessing to us and all the vendors, especially during COVID,” Yanchar said.
Also from June through September events are held from 4-8 p.m. every Wednesday at Osborne Park
in Willoughby.
The pair is hopeful that with the COVID-19 vaccines underway more people will be attracted to coming out to their events.
“Moving into the summer having outdoor events, we’re hoping that’s going to bring more people out, because they’re getting vaccinated and being outdoors, we’re not in the confined space,” Yanchar said. “We’re hoping to bring a festival atmosphere. We’ll have our food trucks, we have our DJ, all of our vendors are required to have pop-up tents so we want to come professional. We just want to offer it to the community,
something to get out and intermingle, get to know vendors and what they sell. We’re trying to be an all-inclusive. We cover direct sales, independent sellers, arts and crafts.”
When the Trendy PopUp Shop started more than two years ago, it began with about 15 vendors. Now, their events accommodate between 60-65 vendors and over 80 vendors total are in the group.
“Right now we have two rooms we’re renting (at LaMalfa), by the holiday season, we’re hoping to have all four rooms filled with vendors,” Yanchar said.
With that they’re hoping to have over 100 vendors.
“We try not to do duplicate (businesses),” Yanchar said. “Because we want each vendor to try to make money so we try to be very in-tune with what the vendors are making and selling.”
Though most of the vendors are local, there are some who come from further out. Michael’s Confections comes up from Dover in Tuscarawas County. Owner Michael Freetage said he was referred by another vendor and has referred two others since.
“It’s a second family when you’re here,” he said.