THE 4th Annual Christmas Art Bazaar saw the participation of 25 small business vendors selling handicrafts, art, snacks, among other items, at the multi-purpose center in Susupe on Friday, Dec. 13.
The event organizer, Leila Staffler, said the bazaar is a way to help small business owners make some sales while also being creative.
“Most of them are sole proprietors and most of them are doing this as a side hustle, and some … are full-time hustle,” she said. “This is something to help sustain people in these hard times and give them a creative outlet to do so.”
She said supporting small business owners contributes to a “circular economy.”
“When we have people who are creating things that are sourced here, or even if it’s outsourced but it’s put together here, it creates some economy that we really need to stimulate wherever we can,” she said. “Small businesses are the foundation of an economy and everybody here is a small business.”
One of the vendors, Ashley Pangelinan, spoke about some of the issues facing small businesses and why “pop-ups” like the bazaar are helpful for them.
“We normally don’t have a store front and so something like this is great for all of us,” she said. “We’re hoping that the locals can support us because I know that deep down our island does support local. It’s really meaningful for people to come in and get something that’s handmade by the artists here or hand-selected items that they think the locals will love to give to their loved ones.”
Cassie Deleon Guerrero and Daisy Demapan own Bishu Marianas, which also participated in the art bazaar. They said pop-ups help them keep prices down.
“It costs too much to have a store front,” Demapan said. “One of the biggest things is when we went into business we wanted to make it accessible to people like me. I can’t charge you $10 for asiga … so the only way to do that was through direct sales and pop-ups. We have donne’, hot sauces, we have snacks coming down the pipeline. All we’re doing right now is building more capital so we can buy more equipment. The community has been very helpful supporting us and we’re so grateful for that.”
Ashley Pangelinan, left, and Tiara Deleon Guerrero.
Cassie Deleon Guerrero, left, and Daisy Demapan.
Vendors pose for a picture during the 4th Annual Christmas Art Bazaar at the multi-purpose center on Friday.
A look inside the 4th Annual Christmas Art Bazaar.
4th Annual Christmas Art Bazaar organizer Leila Staffler says 25 small business vendors participated in this year’s event.
