With the holidays rapidly approaching, Saint Mary’s College held two Christmas markets on Tuesday and Wednesday, organized by the Office for the Common Good (OCG) and the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI), for students to shop for gifts.
OCG director Rebekah Go organized the Makers Market which featured vendors from South Bend on the first floor of the student center while the WEI organized the Smick Holiday Pop-up Market which featured student and alumni vendors on the second. The events are separate, but there was some collaboration between the offices, Go said.
“We've done it before and we specifically collaborated both years to make sure we're doing them on the same day and there's some overlap in time,” she said.
Go explained the events are held at separate times because of the availability of the makers.
“The challenge being that for the maker's market, our makers aren't necessarily available in the evening, which is when students are available and students aren't necessarily available during the daytime when they have classes,” she noted.
The student vendors featured small businesses owned by students and alumni of the tri-campus community.
Madison Mata, a junior at Saint Mary’s, wanted to start a boutique after looking at Instagram boutiques that are super expensive.
“I think it's important to make sure that it is affordable because a lot of people, especially college students, work or have allowances that don't allow them to spend $30 on one bracelet,” she said. “If I can make it and make it five or eight dollars. Then it makes me feel better."
Mata’s business sells a number of products including custom-made t-shirts, stickers and jewelry. Mata chose to sell her products at the pop-up because she felt it would be good exposure for her business.
Peyton Stearns, a junior at Saint Mary's and the owner of Pa’s Print, also decided to sell her products at the pop-up because she thought it would be good place to sell her products.
Stearns started Pa’s Print over the summer. Her launching point was selling Smick city prints last year. Stearns also makes postcards, poster prints and even takes individual requests on Instagram for products. According to Stearns, her business tries to promote sustainability.
“I'm trying to be as sustainable as possible. I don't order in advance. Everything is done per quarter, because I'm trying to cut down on waste and I use sustainable materials,” she said.
Mariana Taskey, a sophomore at Saint Mary’s is an intern for Campus Christmas. She came to the pop-up because she thought this would be a good chance for her to show off the ornaments in person. Taskey said she loves working with Campus Christmas because it combines several of her interests.
“I mean, it's artistic,” she said. “It's fun to look at these pretty ornaments. I get to make videos, take pictures and talk to people about it.”
Contact Meghan Lange at mlange03@saintmarys.edu
Contact Rose Androwich at randrowich01@saintmarys.edu
