After the stunning success of the first Crozet Holiday Market last year, Crozet entrepreneurs Flannery Buchanan and Chelsea Powers plan an even more ambitious market for 2023, more than doubling the number of creative local vendors on hand. Plan to come early for breakfast at downtown establishments or grab a bite from one of the festive food vendors there for the special shopping day.
You won’t need to battle for parking, take your winter coat on and off, or lock your packages in your trunk, or fight with traffic. “One of our main purposes in staging the event is to make it walkable, so we can highlight our downtown businesses as well as the vendors who set up inside or nearby,” Buchanan said. Another goal is to give some visibility to creative small businesses without their own shops. Many of the well-established Crozet businesses concentrated in the downtown area have their usual items for sale but participate by sponsoring an event, hosting vendors, or offering specials.
Santa has agreed to stay in town after the Fireman’s Christmas parade the previous weekend to hang out around the market area. For the market, businesses share space with vendors who don’t have downtown space. Find them at Yellow Mug, Mudhouse, The Art Box, the Artisan Depot, Bar Botanical (they’ll be open for lunch) Horse & Hen, and Julie Ellyn Designs. Besides the shopkeepers at Piedmont Place, individual vendors will set up in the hallways. Dozens of vendor stalls will be set up in Starr Hill’s tank room.
Buchanan and business partner Powers are best known for their own businesses, Bluebird & Company, Reset, and the Basement at Piedmont Place, but they’ve also teamed up together many times to present specialty markets with carefully chosen vendors, all with unique products perfect for gifts. Their experience has given them an eye for what shoppers look for when they stay out of the malls and box stores.
“Last year, we just weren’t sure how it would be received,” Powers said. “This year, we’ve had merchants and vendors contact us, and we’re expecting a large crowd.” They’re asking everyone with a store or an office downtown to come up with creative ways to participate. For a complete list of vendors, go to bluebirdcrozet.com.
The event Saturday, Dec. 9, stretches from the Yellow Mug to Starr Hill. Everyone’s encouraged to park away from downtown and walk as much of the market as they can. The Crozet Holiday Market crawl is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
