Mix Legacy Village’s busy open-air promenades, a long-running pop-up indie craft show and more than a dozen small business owners, and shake vigorously. Retail Lab, a partnership between the Cleveland Bazaar and Lyndhurst shopping center, is set to open June 1 and run through the end of the summer.
Two 1,200-square-foot storefronts near Legacy Village’s Restoration Hardware will play home to a weekly rotation of some of Cleveland Bazaar’s most popular vendors, which will have the opportunity to test their retail concepts and rub shoulders with the likes of L.L. Bean and Crate & Barrel. It’s a coup for both shoppers and vendors.
“The fact that the majority of our events are located on the West Side means we’re potentially exposing a whole new audience of people to our vendors,” says Shannon Okey, who founded Cleveland Bazaar and has been running local craft shows since 2004.
Vendors have the opportunity to display their wares individually or team with up two other complementary retailers.
During the first week, one store will feature local food products by chefs such Clark Pope of Pope’s Kitchen, known for his collection of smoky, spicy artisan hot sauces ($5), bloody mary mixes ($11) and cocktail syrups ($10).
The second location, Brush with Beauty, teams artist Arabella Proffer, whose whimsical, surrealistic portraits go for $300 to $3,000 with local vintage fashion darling Cynthia Deering, who will display her popular 1940s- and ’60s-style pinched-waist dresses and glitzy costume jewelry.
As summer unfolds, look for sandblasted, personalized glassware by husband-and-wife duo Vinny and Cindy Tirpak of Blastmaster and their collection of barware etched with the Cleveland skyline ($15 to $70) and flattering funky, bright Caribbean-inspired dresses and ponchos from designer Andrea Howell of Tidal Cool ($46-$150).
Howell hopes to use the experience to gain confidence and eventually open her own shop.
“Jumping from a nomadic and pop-up oriented business into a brick-and-mortar location is a big step,” she says.
More info: facebook.com/clevelandbazaar
