The business-on-wheels movement is gaining momentum in Connecticut, especially with the help of a Fairfield-based startup that organizes pop-up conventions. PopShop Market L.L.C., founded by three Fairfield County women, nearly doubled the number of vendors and sales profits at its second annual pop-up event in Fairfield this year.
About 50 small-business vendors selling unique, repurposed, handmade or organic products set up shop underneath tents, inside a warehouse and outside their trucks at the Fairfield Theatre Company. A spinoff of the Brooklyn flea market scene, but taking an original approach by handpicking only the most “hip” pop-up businesses, PopShop Market gave Fairfield County residents a taste of Brooklyn without the hassle of buying a train ticket.
“Fairfield really needed this pop-up shop,” said Ashley Kane, co-founder of PopShop Market. “Fairfield is perfect for something like this. It”™s family-oriented, there”™s an eclectic mix of people and the seniors here are cool. We wanted to bring something hip to the county, something different, since Fairfield always had a mantra for being preppy.”
PopShop Market, founded by Kane, Kelly Scinto and Andrea Espach last year, embraces the idea of creating a shopping, eating and entertainment venue for families and providing a creative meeting place for vendors to network with other businesses.
Live music and tequila brought residents and visitors together. An arts and crafts station kept the kids busy. And shoppers were bargain hunting for products ranging from handmade jewelry and brass cigarette trays to zucchini bread and lamps made of recycled copper. Meanwhile, vendors went tent to tent and handed out their business cards.
The Bodega Taco Bar food truck, which owner Mario Fontana rolled out two months ago to expand his Fairfield and Darien-based restaurants”™ footprint, had a major presence at the PopShop Market. Fontana, who plans to park his Bodega taco truck in Southport Beach this summer, said events like PopShop Market create a great vibe for customers and enables him to customize menu items that are targeted toward specific audiences.
“People find that it”™s fun to order food from a truck,” Fontana said. “We wanted the truck to be an extension of our restaurant, so we curate the menu a little more for people. If we”™re going to a crab fair, we”™ll sell more tacos and crab guacamole. If we”™re going to a concert where it”™s all adults, we”™ll sell items like tuna ceviche and tartare.”
Among the newest additions to the PopShop Market scene is The Buzz Truck, a jet black mini school bus repurposed into a coffee-on-wheels business that has been rolling down the streets of Fairfield County for the past 10 weeks. Years ago, The Buzz Truck owners Jessica Grutkowski and her husband, Alex, moved from Brooklyn to Connecticut after they found out they were having twins. Even after the move and having their children, Jessica kept thinking about her dream to open a lobster roll truck in Brooklyn and wondered if starting her own business on wheels was plausible.
Last year, the Grutkowskis attended their first PopShop Market event and networked with a vendor to help start their pop-up business. The name “Buzz Truck” stuck with them and the couple became licensed to do business in Fairfield, Westport and Weston.
“The truck itself seemed appealing because there was no rent involved,” Jessica said. “Everyone needs coffee. It”™s not like we were going to be selling some obscure, super-expensive product. It was more in the selling model, which is all about accessibility. We bring the coffee where it isn”™t.”
So far, the Grutkowskis have had the opportunity to showcase their coffee truck in various pop-up events, tours, schools and festivals. Most recently, they brought their coffee truck to a real estate broker”™s open house. The goal of their business is to continue widening its footprint as they develop custom-catering packages that can be tailored to events ranging from teacher appreciation breakfasts to weddings, Jessica said.
The easy part was finding a local coffee roaster to be their vendor. The couple Googled “local organic coffee brewers” and found their match. Ed Freedman, owner of Shearwater Organic Coffee Roasters L.L.C. in Trumbull, was that match, and he agreed to provide locally roasted coffee beans.
The Grutkowski”™s remade mini school bus has a few regular spots in the city, but they never stay stationary for too long.
“We”™re figuring out which spots make sense and which ones to bag,” Jessica said. “Being near parks and the beach is a top priority for us going into the summer months.”
The next PopShop mini market is in Fairfield on July Fourth weekend.
“When our guests come to PopShop they are coming with an open mind and knowing that we”™re constantly bring in new shops and entrepreneurs,” Espach said. “New small businesses that link up with us for a PopShop will get great face-to-face time with our guests as well as PopShop marketing.”
