GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Chartreuse Sisters and Basic Bee Boutique have both teamed up to turn their back parking lot into a vendor space this Saturday.
Four vendors, namely July Sky Candle Co., Kate Lewis Ceramics, Adventure Textiles and Earthside, are expected to join their "Backlot Market" with unique collaborations between the vendors and stores.
Chartreuse Sisters' co-owner, Alyson Caillaud Jones, hopes an event like this can help other local businesses connect with the community and build towards a storefront just like she and her sister did.
"We did want to offer space for other small businesses, whether that be on our shelves or partnering with people doing these collaborations," she says.
"Since we have access to this back lot, we thought for the summer it would be a great opportunity to give a free space to other small businesses who are working towards opening their own storefronts, or those who just want to pop up in different locations," Caillaud-Jones says.
Caillaud-Jones also recognizes the unique opportunity this presents to get people to visit a lesser-traveled area of Wealthy Street, which hosts many local and small businesses.
"Both Chartreuse Sisters and Basic Bee Boutique have been in business for a while, but we're new to this [physical] location. We were trying to come up with a way to not only get people to come to Wealthy Street, but then cross the street and come see our building," She says.
"One way to do that is to have an event like this, so then we get people to come over and check us out and check out these other businesses."
The market begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 29th and runs until 3 p.m. The joint parking lot between Chartreuse Sisters and Basic Bee is located behind both storefronts at Eastern Ave SE and Wealthy Street SE.
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