Holiday shopping at DeKalb’s Merry Market supports local vendors

DeKALB – Merry Market, a two-day, pop-up holiday market of more than 30 local vendors, will soon return to downtown DeKalb for the season.

On Dec. 10 and 11, an event put on by the organizers that brought patrons the DeKalb Back Alley Market invites the public to get decked out for the holidays, get shopping done and enjoy their time this holiday season.

Vickie Obermiller, one of the event organizers and the owner of Kid Stuff, said the point of the event is simple.

“We like to bring extra reasons to come [to] downtown DeKalb and explore and see the shops that are here year-round,” Obermiller said. “By adding in these vendor pop-up markets, it is more enticing to bring in people from a little further away to come visit our town. We’ve had great responses at our outdoor markets to come and explore, so that’s why we’d do one more.”

Merry Market takes place entirely indoors in several downtown spots.

“There will be a display marking each location where there’s vendors,” Obermiller said.

The highlights of this year’s Merry Market will include, among other things, jewelry, plants, home decor, pottery and woodworking.

“There will be gifts for you or the people on your list,” Obermiller said.

The vendor list was not finalized as of Thursday, organizers said.

“We still have vendors signing up,” Obermiller said.

Obermiller said vendors and patrons both tend to speak highly of their participation in the markets.

“The vendors enjoy coming to our markets because they get a lot of people from different areas, and it helps their brand awareness,” she said. “The shoppers that come, they love the variety and the quality of the merchandise the vendors bring.”

Obermiller said she hopes people will consider shopping the Merry Market, as it means a lot to local entrepreneurs who don’t normally have storefronts.

“It’s giving them stepping stones to see the need for whatever service or product that they’re selling,” Obermiller said. “For some of our vendors, they have found other avenues. Perhaps they have a candle line or coffee.

“Stores are finding that, ‘Oh, this is a great product. I would like to carry it in my store.’ So, it becomes that kind of a situation, too. Maybe they don’t necessarily open up a storefront, but maybe their product is now always in this other store where people can get to it all the time.”

If you go:

What: Merry Market

When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11

Where: Multiple shops in downtown DeKalb