Along with the weather’s transition from falling leaves to flurries of snow comes the winter market season.
This season, the winter market features a variety of vendors. The non-profit organization Heart of the Arts maintains and runs events.
“Heart of the Arts uses the winter market as a stop gap between the farmer’s market and also as a chance to showcase the 1912 center,” Executive Director Jenny Kostroff said.
Kostroff has been running the building for 13 years, but this year is unique due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The market has creative pamphlets for shoppers about required masks, sanitizing stations, social distancing, and personal shoppers.
“I’m very concerned about people’s safety, so I want people to be patient and conscious of each other,” Kostroff said. “We’re offering a personal shopper…the idea there is that we’re trying to connect with people who are home.”
To accommodate vendors, businesses register for different weekends. A variety of vendors from the Palouse and even as far away as Nampa, Idaho bring their wares.
“Food and perishable vendors can come weekly…The non-perishables will be different each week. That way, there’s a reason to shop every [week],” Kostroff said. “In a regular year, I’ll have about 130 vendors register…this year, our registrations are down…we’re at about 75 vendors.”
Stone Soap Co., one of the winter market vendors, is run by Katie Berns and her fiancé Konner Stone. They opened their business in Pullman, Washington last summer, and this is their second year participating in the market.
“It’s fun to see all the other booths- what they’re doing, their items,” Berns said.
Stone Soap Co. crafts and sells sustainably packaged natural health products such as soaps, chapstick, deodorant, and lotion. To minimize shoppers touching products, they put soap in the front to see and keep items in the back, Berns said.
Berns and Stone chose to participate in the winter market in Moscow as opposed to the farmer’s market because the farmer’s market is a bigger commitment, whereas the winter market is indoors, not having to worry about the weather. The smaller location lets patrons stop at each booth.
Despite the pandemic, Stone Shop Co. saw more shoppers stop by this year than last. “We’ve had people come by and do a restock on things they bought last year…We actually did better this year than last year,” Berns said.
Berns observed the positive impact of the winter market.
“I think it’s a really good event… the summer markets are over, and it’s another fun thing you can do on weekends. I think it’s really great; it brings the community together,” Berns said.
The winter market season will be held December 5 and 12 of this year, and February 6 and March 6 of next year.
Esther David can be reached at arg-life@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @Esther_David_