Get into the Holiday Spirit; Shop Small In Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA - Every fall over 1000 visitors come to Mount Washington Elementary's community event Mount Washington Made to shop, eat and socialize. The elementary school’s PTA has been organizing a community marketplace featuring 30 artisans from the local area since 2013. According to the event website:

“The idea for this event came to life from a long time Mt Washington resident who wanted to find a way to bring the community out to support it's local school. There is a history of artists and designers working on and around the hill that we want to honor by opening up the beautiful, eucalyptus-lined school grounds as a community gathering place.“

This year Melrose Elementary School’s PTO is planning their first fundraising marketplace Melrose Pop Up Holiday Bazaar. By tapping into the creative community of parents and local makers the organizers were able to bring together a Holiday Pop Up on Melrose Avenue in just a few weeks.

“There are so many creative people in our community who are eager to share what they do with others and happy to support public education.” says Novelyn Aquino, co-owner of Garbstore Case Study on La Brea Avenue, Beauty Counter distributor and Melroseparent. “For small online shops, this gives them the opportunity to connect face to face with their customers and creates a sense of community that is missing in this day and age.”

Craft Fairs are big business across the country. According to entrepreneur.com booth fees for vendors at traditional craft fairs range from $200 to $500. Etsy reports that many of their sellers are parents with children at home. Taking time off from parenting and other work commitments and risking hundreds of dollars in booth fees and travel expenses is just not practical for them. With this trend in school fundraisers, vendors donate a percentage of their sales from the show to the school’s fundraising organization rather than pay a flat rate booth cost.

This structure works well for both the school and for the entrepreneur. First, the cost to participate is minimal. Local small business don’t need to pay for travel expenses or take time away from their other responsibilities in order to get to the event. Second, there are no up front fees to pay for the venue.

For the school, the benefit comes from bringing in an average of 20% of the vendor sales from the event, without having to ask for handouts from their parent community. For shoppers, the benefit comes from finding unique gifts while feeling good about supporting small business and local schools. With these community marketplaces shopping small means making a big difference.

Upcoming School Holiday Marketplaces:

Melrose Elementary School
Saturday November 25th from 11-4
Corner of Melrose Avenue and Detroit Street
731 N. Detroit Avenue 90046
www.melrosepopup.com

Cheremoya Avenue School WinterFest
Sunday December 3rd from 11am-3pm
6017 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028
https://cheremoya-lausd-ca.sch...

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