FULTON MARKET — One of the city’s most popular small business markets is ramping up its slate of events ahead of the holidays.
Chicago Artisan Market is hosting a series of markets and special events this month and next, providing an outlet for local artisans and small business owners to sell their work to those looking for gifts this holiday season.
Chicago Artisan Market’s pre-Thanksgiving market takes place 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday at Morgan MFG, 401 N. Morgan St. in Fulton Market. A holiday market will be held at the same time and location Dec. 15.
The market’s Ravenswood outpost will host its Small Shop Saturday and Sunday market from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at Artifacts Events Building, 4235 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Individual tickets for the Fulton Market and Ravenswood markets start at $8 and are available on the Chicago Artisan Market website. Kids under 12 get in free.
“Our markets are really kind of gathering places,” said Jonathan Smith, co-founder of the Chicago Artisan Market. “It’s about connecting to other people [and] connecting to family and friends while shopping small and local.”
Since 2018, the Chicago Artisan Market has bolstered Chicago-based makers with events hosted year-round — not just for the holidays. Smith said he and his wife, Lynna, had been promoting small businesses in the Chicago area for more than a decade prior to starting the market. But they felt there was still more work to be done.
“We just recognized, having worked with small businesses for so long, that people were looking for places to sell and they didn’t necessarily have the time or the financial resources to open up a retail store,” Smith said.
The market has grown not just by adding more locations, but also by increasing the number of vendors it can support. For example, the Fulton Market location this winter is “effectively doubling” the number of vendors it will host to more than 200 by adding an additional market date from past years.
The market also aims to draw in new vendors and repeat business by not charging fees for those businesses that want a spot, Smith added. Some businesses have been present from the start — and will continue to be this season and in the future.
Chicago-based “Poems While You Wait” has been a frequent vendor at the market since December 2018. The company, which Smith said “captures the ethos of the markets,” specializes in producing short poems for customers in a short time frame.
Kathleen Rooney, one of the Poems While You Wait co-founders, said the Chicago Artisan Market strikes the right balance by encouraging local commerce while supporting the craft of artists and artisans in the city. It’s one of the reasons her organization continues to return to the market. But Rooney also added that the market stands out for its consistency.
“A lot of things crop and disappear and you can’t rely on them,” she said. “I think the key to the Chicago Artisan Market is they just show up over and over again.”
Poems While You Wait will be present at the market Sunday and Dec. 15 in Fulton Market and in Ravenswood Dec. 1.
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