Small Business Saturday: Open Market Collective serves as business incubator
After successfully launching her own small business in uptown Lexington five years ago, Krista Miller-Jarvis has organized the Open Market Collective, a business incubator designed the help local entrepreneurs test the market for a brick-and-mortar presence without a lot of overhead.
The Open Market Collective is located at 114 S. Main St., where Bristle + Pine and the Olde Homestead were formerly located. It’s two doors down from Miller-Jarvis’ business, Cooper Road Collection, which sells women’s plus-size clothing.
Miller-Jarvis, who holds a B.S. degree in entrepreneurship from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, worked in a corporate job in finance before making the leap to owning her own business. She moved the business three times to accommodate growth and pivoted to online sales at the height of the pandemic so she knows a few things about adapting to challenges to thrive in retail.
She wants to share that knowledge with other fledgling businesses that have done business through websites or Facebook groups but want to transition to a brick-and-mortar store.
“It really all stemmed from a need I saw for my own business,” Miller-Jarvis said. “I truly believe the more retail we have here the more people will come uptown to shop and spend their money. The idea is to drive people into town not only for these new businesses but all the stores uptown. But it’s hard to break into a brick-and-mortar presence — it’s tough and it’s expensive.”
The Open Market Collective, a nonprofit small business community marketplace, allows entrepreneurs to have a booth or smaller space for their business for a monthly fee that includes rent, utilities and liability insurance. The leases are for six months at a time. The vendors are required to volunteer four hours a week to act as cashier for all the businesses during sales hours.
The building has about 3,000 square feet for vendors, with more space in the back for workshops. Miller-Jarvis said she plans free monthly small business workshops on everything from branding to how to use Canva, a free graphic design platform for social media, presentations and posters. She has a professional photographer coming in to shoot photos for businesses’ marketing materials. Workshops are open to small businesses outside of the collective’s vendors as well.
The Open Market Collective, which opened Oct. 15, currently has most of the nine larger booths and a couple of smaller one-wall spaces filled. There is a center section of clothing and accessories that is part of the Open Market Collective brand, with those sales proceeds going back to the nonprofit organization.
There is a Pop-Up Saturday space as well where prospective vendors can set up for that day for $25 but handle the sales themselves. “It’s just something else to offer for businesses that are not necessarily interested in renting space at this time.”
Miller-Jarvis has made of point of getting a variety of vendors to draw people into the market. “I didn’t want a ton of overlapping but a variety, so I took some time filling the spots.”
Current vendors are:
Baking Initiative Co. — owned by Brooke Nelson and rebranded from Pretzel & Cookie, which sells royal icing cookies, German soft pretzels and other baked goods such as brownies. Wind and Willow mixes, cookie cutters, mixing bowls, muffin pans and other baking items are additionally for sale. The space is a pick-up point for items ordered online.
Bow Bow by Kyle — colorful handmade jewelry, hair bows and related accessories made by Kyle Bowers.
Carolina Nectar Co. — which makes and sells artisanal tea blends, herbal bath salts and hand-poured soy candles. It is owned by Alayna Fox. These products were sold through Bristle + Pine.
Go Rustic Artisan Breads — sells a variety of fresh breads with no preservatives and other baked goods. Beth McSparin, a waitress at Roots on Main, has partnered with chef Michael Moorefield of Roots in the business.
Indie Jo Co. — carries baby clothes, handmade bows and matching mommy- and-me outfits. It is owned by Grace Jenkins, who named the business after her 15-month-old baby.
Kim’s Closet — is operated by Nick Plassmeyer, who owns K-Wig Beauty Supply across Main Street from Open Market Collective. He is carrying women’s clothing, shoes and accessories he didn’t have space to stock at K-Wig.
Rosemary’s Emporium — is owned by Tanya McCarn, a teacher whose long-term goal is to have a storefront when she retires. The business carries women’s clothing and jewelry as well as home décor.
Tilley Grey Boutique — owned by sisters-in-law Kristen Striplin and Adrienne English, the store sells women's clothing and accessories as well as some children’s clothing.
Open Market Collective is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to p.m[MDM1] . Saturday.
