Indigenous Women’s Pop-Up Market Draws Steady Long-Weekend Foot Traffic In Moncton
MONCTON–Women in Business New Brunswick’s Indigenous Pop-Up Shop set up for the second time in Moncton over the Victoria Day Long Weekend.
“We wanted to travel around the province and this was our next stop,” said Natasha Martin-Mitchell, development officer for indigenous women entrepreneurs.
Martin-Mitchell said the first event was held at the Fredericton Inn in March.
She said another pop-up shop is planned for Bathurst in September–and another in Edmundston, in December.
The pop-up shop events are an in-person extension of Nujintuisga’tijig E’pijig, a sales platform initiative for products made by Indigenous women, launched by Women in Business New Brunswick.
Martin-Mitchell expressed relief to finally be able to start hosting in-person events again, coming off a long couple of years of pandemic-related restrictions.
“Now, they can come together in a safe environment and do their thing and sell their products and talk about their creations and ideas,” she said.
While the crowd was not as big as she was hoping, Martin-Mitchell said that was understandable given the fact that it was the long weekend.
“It’s been a steady flow of people, coming in from lots of other events this weekend,” she noted.
“There are a lot of people coming in from the Moncton Market and Dieppe Market as well, and some of the ladies here are doing and selling well, so that’s all we can ask for.”
The pop-up shop attracted entrepreneurs from a wide array of industries, selling a wider array of goods.
Erica Sanipass, owner of EJ’s Cree-ations, echoed Martin-Mitchell’s assessment of the foot traffic at the Crowne Plaza: “There are waves of people, so it’ll pick up and slow down a bit.”
Sanipass’s table displayed some of the skills she developed in western Canada and brought to the East Coast. She was selling a wide variety of beadwork designs, with everything from traditional jewelry to sports logos done up in the traditional beading.
She told Huddle there have been some repeat customers coming back for more of her various Indigenous beadwork – the product of a skill she cultivated when she lived in Peguis First Nation, in Manitoba.
“I just started beading with a few friends and I just kind of expanded from there,” said Sanipass. “I learned to do different styles by just gathering on weekends and in the evenings.”
Baqahson Sappier, an employee with Turtle Island Aqua Inc., said the spring water company attended in a time of growth and the extra publicity helps a great deal.
“I feel it’s worthwhile because, since we partnered with the company last year, sales have increased a lot,” said Sappier.
“It’s important to develop partnerships with other local businesses and Indigenous businesses.”
The company, headquartered in Tobique First Nation, has plans to expand, with a larger four-litre jug size coming to complement the 500-millilitre bottles it’s currently sold in. It also has a new, carbonated honey water in the works.
The company sources its spring water from a protected area in New Brunswick, drawing on groundwater naturally filtered through old rock formations.
Sappier said the internationally acclaimed company’s founders were inspired to add honey water to its roster, citing health benefits, and have a partnership in the works with a Caraquet-area business.
Next to Sappier’s table, Jenna White, owner and founder of Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery, was the owner of one of Turtle Island’s partners.
White, who sells 100 percent nut-free baked goods, also sells Turtle Island Inc. water at her Fredericton-based bakery.
White started her bakery three years ago, recognizing a serious need in the market after developing severe nut allergies that left her legally blind.
“I figured there was no time like the present to start trying to follow my dreams, so I started up at the farmer’s market with a small folding table and very limited menu,” she said.
“Three years later, I now have a restaurant, bakery, and a food production facility with a line of baking mixes.”
White was impressed with the Moncton pop-up shop event, noting it was a wonderful way to amplify Indigenous voices.
“We can reach an audience we don’t necessarily always reach otherwise,” she said.
“In Fredericton, we have three reserves relatively close to the city and the Indigenous community is very prominent.
In Moncton, you have to go a little further out, so for them to have this here is wonderful. It’s great to see support here as well.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].