This Season's Top Maker Markets For Holiday Shopping

Jordan Carlson is a designer, gatherer, and professional appreciator whose Instagram feed, Local Trove, celebrates places and people doing good work in Seattle and beyond. We asked Jordan to tell us where she's picking out her holiday gifts this year, and she came back to us with insights on shopping locally and a long list of must-visit markets around the country. 

There are many reasons to shop locally, but just to name a few, it helps keep money circulating within your community, reduces your carbon footprint, and sustains small businesses whose integrity and personality are truly unique. This holiday season, we’re trying to purchase our gifts as close to home as we can, and we’re on the lookout for presents we can feel confident about, both in how they were made and how they will be received.

Pop-up markets are some of our favorite places for this kind of shopping. They’re the perfect venues for finding one-of-a-kind items and supporting creative makers in the process. Since locals always know bet, we reached out to local (and locally-minded) business owners in four different cities around the U.S. – Seattle, Nashville, the Twin Cities and New York – and asked them what events are on their radar this holiday season. Scout their recommendations below. 

1. Seattle

Sallyann Corn and her husband, Joe Kent, make up Fruitsuper, a studio that answers design challenges with smart and beautiful products. In addition to offering their own line of goods produced here in the U.S., they work to support and champion other designers and makers through Join Design, a collective of like-minded creatives. 

Fruitsuper’s website states that they “believe in community, collaboration, finding inspiration everywhere, and the simple importance of play,” and this couldn’t be a better description of Sallyan. We knew that wherever this woman recommended would be exactly where we’d want to find ourselves shopping this December.

King Street Makers Market: 11/30-12/3, 11-7pm, at Plank & Grain in the ID

Not Without Salt Shop Holiday Pop-Up Market: 12/1-12/15, 11-7pm Wednesday-Saturday and 11-6pm Sunday, at the NWS flagship store

Open Editions Holiday Pop-Up: 12/2-12/23, 11-7pm Tuesday-Friday and 11-6pm Saturday-Sunday, at Civilization’s gallery, Non-breaking Space

ARCADE Launch Party and Silent Auction: 12/14, 5:30-8pm, at Colman Automotive Building

Holiday Shopping Event hosted by Join Design and Verde & Co.: 12/7, 5-8pm, at 400 Fairview

2. Nashville

Painter Emily Leonard is a Nashville native, and she has been a full-time studio artist for over fifteen years, creating a signature style where her subtle glazes and gestures are combined to create bold, impactful and mesmerizing pieces. In her own words, “Rather than painting the tree in the yard, I want to paint what it feels like to stand in the yard and look at the tree. I paint to excavate the truth from the literal, the space from the air, and the seeing from the looking.” With a vision like this, some inspiring shopping recommendations seem guaranteed. 

Porter Flea, 12/9 (with preview 12/8), 10-5pm, at the Nashville Fairgrounds

Winter Showroom, 11/9-12/2, 11-7pm, in Germantown

Elizabeth Suzann Sample Sale, 12/9, 4-7pm, at Elizabeth Suzann

3. New York

For a round-up of events happening in NYC, we reached out to Andrea Miranda Salas, a Brooklyn-based designer. Andrea is the founder of Adornment Objects, a brand that has resulted from her countless material studies, her knowledge of production techniques, and her appreciation of well-crafted objects. Everything is made in-house at her local studio. 

La Femme – Celebrating women-owned businesses: 11/23-12/31 at Refinery Hotel; 12-1-12/24 at Arlo Hotel Soho, and 12/2, 12/9, 12/16, and 12/23 at Park Central Hotel

Good Goods: 11/24 –12/24, 11-7pm, at Good Goods in SOHO

A/D/O, 12/2-12/3, 12-8pm, at A/D/O in Greenpoint

SuperSmith, 12/9, 1-8pm, at SuperSmith in Red Hook

Bust Craftacular, 12/9-10, 11am-7pm, at Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint

Wanted Design Holiday Market, 12/1-12/31, 11am-7pm, at the Seaport District

4. The Twin Cities

We turned to two favorites in Minneapolis and St. Paul for their recommendations. First, we talked to Rita Mehta of The American Edit, who has been celebrating, advocating, and supporting U.S.-made, beautifully designed products for years. Her website and Instagram account are go-to resources for beautiful items created here in the states, and she was an obvious person to ask for tips on Twin Cities shopping. 

We also chatted with Lisa Hackwith of Hackwith Design House, a Minnesota-based slow clothing company that has been a favorite for years. Her beautiful designs boast a clean aesthetic, quality fabric and impeccable attention to detail that speak to exactly the sort of commitment we have come to expect and respect from the local designer/maker. 

No Coast Craft: 12/1, 3-8pm, and 12/2, 9-5pm, at Midtown Global Market

Island of Misfit Makers: 12/2, 11-5pm, at Food Building

Northerngrade: 12/9, 11-7pm, and 12/10, 11-6pm, at Loring Park

HDH Studio Sale: 12/10, 12-4pm, alongside Mad Scarf Shop, Lulu organics, and Annika Kaplan Jewelry, at HDH studio

Studio 125 x Wit & Delight Holiday Market: 12/16, 11-4pm, at Studio 125 

MAD Holiday Pop-Up, 12/21, 12-8pm, at MAD