Candles, crystals and community: for small business owner Janet Ortega, that’s what MidCity Mercado, a monthly pop-up in the West Adams area, is all about.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re there to sell or really do business,” Ortega said. “You just feel like you’re at home with family and you feel really safe there.”
Ortega is one of over 20 vendors who sold and shared their products at the MidCity Mercado from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The event features local vendors who sell and share food, drinks, clothing, plants and more.
Ortega’s business Yerba Mystica Botanica, sells an array of spiritual candles, plants, incense and crystals online. The MidCity Mercado is the one event she takes her business in-person. She was inspired to start her online business in 2020 as a way to cope through loss.
“I basically started this brand just to sell stuff that I was passionate about,” Ortega said. “I was going through the grieving process since I lost my brother two years ago, and I just wanted to do something that would make me feel like me again.”
Ortega said her favorite part of MidCity Mercado is getting to connect with other vendors and share stories of their experiences and brand purpose.
“It makes you feel you’re in a safe place, like it’s okay to be you,” Ortega said. “Nowadays, it’s so hard to actually really show off who you really are, but there... no one’s going to judge you. If anything, people are going to welcome you.”
Another vendor who rang in the latest MidCity Mercado pop-up is Liliana Conde of Yllil Shop. She sold her handcrafted protective phone cases, which she customizes with sublimation ink. Aside from making sales, Conde said one of the market’s highlights is uniting with local entrepreneurs.
“That environment is just different,” Conde said. “I’ve gone to other pop-ups and it’s not the same. It just feels like home.”
Conde said her connection with fellow vendors at the market pop-up has also improved her own knowledge of entrepreneurship.
“I learn something every time I go,” she said. “I meet people; networking is also a plus when you own a small business and also just having a good time.”
Manny Mireles is also a vendor who has a pop-up stand at the monthly MidCity Mercado events. His business, Yeaj Yalhalhj, started back in 2017 and sells artisanal objects from the culture of the Oaxacan community.
“We primarily focus on displaying the artist and work of the Zapotec people, both from the region and the Central Valley and the Sierra Norte,” Mireles said.
He believes it is important to showcase these cultures in community-wide events like these since it provides a connection for people to view art that is not often showcased.
“I think it offers a big perspective coming from a family of makers and being involved in the living aspect of a community from an Indigenous space like Oaxaca,” he said.
Mireles adds that selling the work of these artisans provides a window to the history and geography of these communities.
Mireles finds himself ecstatic to participate in this event so close to home.
“We grew up in this neighborhood and so I think it’s also really important to show that,” Mireles said.
Mireles said his business and the monthly market help him meet other people from Oaxaca as well as vendors who share his same story.
“You just get to meet so many different people and even as Oaxacans with the diaspora,” he said. “It’s interesting to meet other Oaxacans in other spaces and just share.”
Karla Martinez is the founder of Tiendita Pochita, a small clothing business specializing in affordable and sustainable fashion. She said the MidCity Mercado instills a sense of empowerment in small business owners like her, especially in a time of “corporate machine mentality.”
Martinez also pointed out the beauty of buying products from small business vendors as opposed to large household name businesses.
“Sometimes it’s easy to shop where we know and do all these things that society wants us to do,” Martinez said. “But I feel like there’s something beautiful and wholesome to see the face of the person you’re supporting and understand them.”
The next MidCity Mercado will be in May.