Looking for somewhere local to buy your Christmas gifts—or perhaps spoil yourself?
Seek Bespoke Market is back on in Squamish this long weekend and brings with it around 100 vendors to shop from.
Held at the Railway Museum of BC from Nov. 8 to 10, the market offers a plethora of shopping options curated by owner Shannon Lorenz.
“The Bespoke market supports creative entrepreneurs who offer a curated selection of home goods, unique wares, artisanal food and beverages, gifting items, sustainable clothing, vintage apothecary, kids, pets and a little bit of everything else,” Lorenz said.
“We really want to provide shoppers with the unique opportunity to find meaningful, sustainable and locally crafted goods. And with that, we have our largest market of the year coming up with close to 100 vendors, so that's really exciting.”
Seek Bespoke Market is held twice a year in Squamish, once in April and once in November.
“The April one has a bit of a different vibe,” Lorenz said.
“This April, I went for a wellness theme throughout, and I had like plants there … and more like things to refresh your home and to rejuvenate yourself. So, I picked a lot of vendors that went along with that wellness thing.
“Lots of people buy gifts, but a lot of people still buy for themselves … so people who've been following me and coming to my markets over the years know that it's their chance to go shopping over this weekend.”
Lorenz said she is excited to host the market in the Railway Museum of BC due to the vibe of the venue.
“It's such a cool experience to have all [the vendors] in this one beautiful space. The railway museum is this open, big space, and when people come in, they can feel the creative energy in the venue,” she said.
It’ll be the third year that the Seek Bespoke Market runs in Squamish, and Lorenz has started offering educational advice to the vendors to help them succeed all year round.
“I started to offer educational pieces to vendors because I found that some vendors didn't come in with a plan,” she said.
“I thought, ‘How can I start supporting vendors in a different way, outside of the market?’ And so I do free calls every month where I'll bring in shop owners and other creative entrepreneurs to talk about how they do marketing, how they do markets and about their business mindset to get them through the challenges.”
While she has a number of vendors from across B.C., some local favourites you will find over the three days include Fleurescent Blooms; Graze Wilder, Mother Made Canada, Gather Bookshop, Create Makerspace.
Lorenz says she is expecting another large turnout, with almost 500 patrons venturing out in the middle of a storm during last year’s event.
“They are dedicated shoppers,” she said.
“If it was nice weather, we would have 1000 people come on Friday night. So it will be very busy, and then Saturdays are always the busiest.”
The event times and dates are:
- Nov. 8 from 4 to 9 p.m.
- Nov. 9 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Nov. 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, visit the Seek Bespoke Market website.
