Vendor fairs and bazaars are aplenty on the central Kenai Peninsula. From the summertime Soldotna Wednesday Market to December’s Holiday Cheer Christmas Bazaar, there’s no shortage of opportunities to shop local.
An unofficial start of the holiday shopping season is Soldotna High School’s What Women Want Shopping Expo. The event is one of the largest fundraisers of the year for SoHi’s girl’s basketball team. It used to be held twice a year, but is now condensed into one event.
“We have a lot of arts and crafters who come out and only sell during the holiday season,” said Beta Dimitrovski, one of the coordinators of the expo. “For the homemade arts and crafters, this is huge for them. This is the biggest income of the year, so we love to support them, and we’d love everyone to come out and support our locals.”
The expo will feature over 40 mostly women-run small businesses. They’ll be selling a large assortment of locally made goods, from soaps and oils, to jewelry, baked goods and more. There’ll also be carnival activities for children in the school’s gymnasium
Mariah Ross is the owner of Sugar Coated Confections, a local business that sells treats like sugar cookies and hot cocoa bombs. Ross has participated in other markets around the peninsula, but returns to the What Women Want Shopping Expo because she likes how it brings vendors and shoppers together during the colder months.
She’s been a vendor at the expo for about five years.
“Having the opportunity to get your name out there, and get to a place where a bunch of people will be there at one time, is a really big bump for business,” Ross said. “I know a lot of local vendors rely on this particular season and vendor events that our community provides to help provide for their business in slower seasons.”
Ross says an added bonus of the expo is mingling with other artisans and vendors. For some, it’s one of the only times of the year for them to catch up.
“I love the general vibe of it,” Ross said. “There’s a lot of women empowerment, it also supports the Soldotna girl’s basketball team. I think that supporting our girls’ sports teams is important.”
In addition to being an organizer, Dimitrovski is also a vendor at the expo. She sells an array of Scentsy branded scented wax products.
Like Ross, Dimitrovski enjoys the social aspect of the event. It allows her to meet new customers and rub shoulders with returning ones.
“Just seeing everybody is my favorite part,” Dimitrovski said. “The selling is OK, but I’d rather just sit and chitchat with most of my customers.”
Soldotna High School’s What Women Want Shopping Expo will run Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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