A Unique Way to Shop Small aroundLA
Hey riders, I don’t know where you’ll be this weekend aroundLA, but I’ll be shopping small at Unique Markets!
“Skip the mall, shop small.” That’s a catchy slogan I came across on Unique Markets’ website, as I went to learn more about them. What I found is they “create massive pop-ups that showcase the best in small businesses.”
Not to sound anti-capitalistic (even though I am), but why give your hard-earned dollars to somebody already in the top 1% that is more passionate about profit margins than the product they’re selling you, when you can have a connected transaction directly with a small business owner?!
It benefits both you and your community more to buy from small, local businesses.
Why buy products from small businesses instead of mass manufacturers?
Maybe I’m too sentimental, but there’s a whole different appreciation for a product when I’ve shaken hands with the hands the hands that made it. Or maybe I’m too particular, looking too closely at the details, but there’s often a major jump in quality from a random item out of an Amazon factory in China to a hand-selected item manufactured in the USA.
Let’s use a piece of clothing as an example, since we all have to wear ‘em unless we want a ticket for indecent exposure.
Here’s a real life example.
For my most recent birthday dinner, I requested that the guests wear all white. One of my girlfriends, wanting to save money and time, decided she’d order her outfit from Amazon. “T.K., I already know what you’re going to say,” she began, as she told me where she’d be shopping for her outfit. “Yes, I know there’s no telling what you might get when ordering from random/unknown sellers on Amazon,” she continued, “that’s why I’m ordering multiple from different vendors.” Surely purchasing an array of clothing items from various sources online would guarantee something good in there somewhere, right?
Wrong.
Every single piece of clothing she bought was despicable in its own way. From ill-fitted to uncomfortable fabric, it was all terrible.
When she sucked it up and went in-person to a boutique aroundLA, upon her first attempt, she easily found a lovely white dress with superb stitching and material that hugged the contours of her body just right in every way.
She then went thru the process of returning all the items ordered on Amazon and was left with nothing but disappointment from shopping there. How convenient was that after all? How much time and money did she save?
Skip the hassle, as well as the mall, and shop small.
Unique Markets brings the best of small businesses to one location for a weekend.
Originally Unique LA, this concept created in 2008 by Sonja Rasula, brought 7,000 shoppers to its very first pop-up shopping experience in Los Angeles.
Being somewhere in primary school in 2008, my eyes bulged when I saw this started back then!
These types of forward-thinking, large-scale-small-business-motivating efforts were being made back then?!
No, they weren’t!
“In an era of mass production, fast fashion, and commerce overload, one could say, Rasula’s vision was ahead of her time.” | photo: Unique Markets
Forbes called Sonja Rasula “ahead of her time,” and I can understand why! I know I was a kid, but I don’t remember this being a thing. The closest interactive, pop-up shopping experience I can think of is the Angola Rodeo, where you can buy a very locally-authentic po’ boy or jambalaya from a stand, then shop for leather accessories handmade by inmates of Louisiana State Penitentiary. Unique Markets is a little different… the vendors aren’t incarcerated.
What’s at a Unique Markets pop-up event?
Food.
What’s an event without food?! Not my type of event, that’s for sure! Unique Markets will feature a variety of local restauranteurs from aroundLA.
Fun.
There’s a DIY craft area, as well as a Family Fun Zone equipped with a diaper change + privacy space.
Drinks.
Stay hydrated with a complimentary can of Liquid Death, and pop around to coffee or juice booths.
Shopping.
Whew! The other aspects are nice sides, but the shopping is the main course. Clothing, handbags, jewelry, skincare, fragrances, home decor… shopping galore! Pretty much anything you’d go looking for at a mall, you can come to Unique Markets and shop small.
Pretty much anything you’d go looking for at a mall, you can come to Unique Markets and shop small. | photo: Unique Markets
Unique Markets is taking place at DTLA’s California Market Center.
For more information and to buy tickets to this L.A. event, go directly to their Unique Markets Los Angeles homepage.
Don’t live aroundLA?
If you don’t live, or won’t be, in the Los Angeles area for the Unique Markets pop-up this weekend, don’t fret. Unique Markets hosts their pop-up shopping experience a few times a year in Los Angeles, Portland, and Washington D.C.
Thoughts expressed are completely of my own. aroundLAwithTK is a personal lifestyle blog where I, T.K., share my experiences (and associated suggestions) as I navigate life aroundLA.
Though this is not a paid promotion, I did receive 4 complimentary weekend passes to the Unique Markets pop-up DTLA. Who wants to go with me Saturday morning?! Join the aroundLAwithTK mailing list, then leave a shopping bag & lurking-eyes emoji as a comment on the Instagram post and I’ll reach out to you!
