Castro Valley Holiday Shopping Popup
A group of Castro Valley women are doing their best to encourage holiday shoppers to skip supply-chain problems and delivery hassles by shopping locally this year, perhaps even in person.
Some 100 people enjoyed a sunny Sunday on November 21 in a local backyard to chat with each other and look over mostly hand-made, mostly locally made, mostly customizable gift items from about a dozen local entrepreneurs.
For some people, the pop-up was their first chance to reconnect with neighbors since the pandemic hit and lockdowns ensued. For Melodi Olson, owner of Dainty Elephant, it was her first real chance to meet her customers in-person.
She had started her business, which sells nail polish strips in a variety of designs, just before the initial pandemic lockdown, forcing her to go online-only. Her online customers could have come from anywhere in the world, but in practice many of them lived down the block or a few miles away.
“It was nice to see everybody outside, chatting, meeting new people, talking to local women about possible gifts,” Olsonsaid. “And I really liked how supportive of each other these women were.”
Aarthi Natarajan, whose Terracil makes zero-waste paper pencils, said that unlike shopping online or in a large chain store, people were able to talk to and ask questions of the people who had actually made most of the things for sale.
“What was especially nice was being able to help with each other’s children after so long,” said Natarajan.
The event, in fact, had gotten a big boost from the Castro Valley Mothers Club, in addition to a Facebook page.
“A few of us thought it would be fun to promote women entrepreneurs, especially here in Castro Valley,” Natarajan said. “We were surprised how quickly it grew, from the original idea to the actual event in about three weeks.”
Other local businesses at the Holiday Popup 2021 were Danielle’s Custom Gifts (custom family tiles and ornaments), Usborne Books (children’s books and jigsaw puzzles), Beppy Studio (acrylic keychains and other gifts), Tammy So Extra (personalized gifts), Originals by Lynnette (succulent arrangement and jewelry), Studio Anolen (jewelry design), Michikocrafts (crochet hats and home goods), A Lovely Letter (handmade greeting cards), Nari Jewelry (Baha’i inspired minimalist jewelry) and Sending Sunshine (handmade greeting cards).
Olson said that a second in-person event was being set up, with Dec. 12 as a target date, but details haven’t been finalized. However, the group does have an online presence, and you can contact any of the businesses at https://linktr.ee/HolidayPopup2021.