INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana native, Natalie Nagengast, prides herself on knowing exactly what her generation wants when it comes to their time and money — which is where her event Markets for Makers comes in to play.
What started as an outdoor market experience in Clearwater, Florida quickly moved to an explosive national artisan marketing and makers experience.
In true millennial fashion, the company provides an atmosphere for shoppers to drink, wear a flower crown, take quality Instagram pictures, and buy local (check out the video above).
What is Market for Makers
Market for Makers is a unique opportunity for both local artisans and local buyers to come together to support everyone and everything local. Makers at each market experience are creators of items buyers cannot easily find in stores.
According to the Market for Makers team, their selected makers specialize in home decor, fashion, art, design, food, and more.
The company's goal is to help bridge loyal relationships between independent artists and customers.
When is the Indianapolis Market for Makers
The market is set to start on Saturday, June 8 and run through the next day, Sunday, June 9 at BASH in Carmel. Both general admission ticket ($7) and VIP tickets are still available for the event.
Each day the market lasts five hours, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with over 50 local vendors. You can view the makers that will be at the BASH event here.
Although, it is too late to become a vendor for the 2019 Market for Makers in Indianapolis, you can watch the Market for Makers application page for when to apply next.
How did Market for Makers get started
The Anderson University graduate started out in (wait for it) — marketing. Nagengast described how she was inspired to start her own market experience:
"After graduating with my degree in Finance from AU, I got a job in marketing. When I left that position I wanted to test out a lot of social media strategies and started a small jewelry company with my best friend. All of the markets were pretty far and I was walking along this waterfront park and proposed the idea to the city. From there my small market went from 50 booths to over 100 and we went to about a 3-5k attendance every other Saturday year round. It was huge!"
Nagengast had an outdoor market for years in Clearwater, Florida. However, due to a waterfront development that would take five to ten years to finish, she shifted gears to creating a market experience around the nation.
"When I lost a bid for my market, it was rough, but I got inspired by a new concept... I saw this company out of L.A. which created this whole weekend experience. Kind of like a comicon for people (women 20-45 mainly) that love supporting small businesses, shopping and are creative!""
The first time Market for Makers came to Indianapolis was just last year, and it was hosted at The Biltwell Event Center. Despite getting rave reviews from the marketing experience last year, the Market for Makers crew went with BASH, which was offered at just a quarter of the cost of The Biltwell.
"We'd love to grow to 200 plus makers and get back to the gorgeous The Bitwell but for now we found this brand new venue BASH and we're going to do an indoor,outdoor concept in Carmel," Nagengast said. "And we're so excited to help them with the launch of their business."
Market for Makers has been around since 2015, and has seen steady growth year by year.
"I started October 2015, we grew from 50 to 100 makers with my market. Last year we re-launched and launched 4 cities and we're on trend to pass up other huge markets like Renegade Craft, Unique Markets, Denver Flea (now Fetch Markets) and others in the next few years and I hope to be able to take on more cities around the U.S."
The Hoosier says that with the success of her startup, she is living her dream.
"I love helping people so it has been the most fulfilling career I've ever had and as long as people keep coming out and supporting these small businesses we get to keep living our dream! I know that with the money that goes into these small businesses we're making a measurable community impact on not just the local makers we let in but the others from around the US as well. (We aim for 50-70% local and the rest small businesses scattered around the US)."
