Tacoma’s Black Night Market debuted this spring. It’s back for Juneteenth and beyond
The tables were set around 4 p.m. The first of three musicians hit the stage. An hour later, one of two fashion shows rolled down the runway and across the stage in South Tacoma.
Vegan pop-tarts, handmade candles, earrings conjured from old vinyl records, custom skin- and hair-care products, skateboards and sweatshirts — a few dozen vendors filled Edison Square, a new two-story event venue at 5415 South Tacoma Way, on the last Friday in April for the inaugural Black Night Market.
The event returns June 24, in time to celebrate local Black business owners, creators, entrepreneurs and community in conjunction with Juneteenth. Commemorating the date that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom and the Civil War’s end, June 19 was recognized as a Washington state holiday and a federal holiday last year.
Market founder and Tacoma-based event coordinator Mari Griffin was already looking forward to the second edition when The News Tribune spoke to her ahead of the April 29 market.
“My goal is to make it be one of the most popular events for supporting business owners and artists in the BIPOC community,” she said.
The venue was already booked for May, but every final Friday from June through December it will host the Black Night Market, featuring vendors from Seattle to Tacoma and, in some cases, from across the country.
“A lot of markets for Black business owners or the BIPOC community, they only come around when things are trending,” she said, referencing a wave of support for Black Americans following the protests against police brutality in 2020. “I wanted to do something where, yes, that’s happening, but it’s not trending. It’s not based off of that — it’s based off of celebrating and supporting us all the time, no matter what.”
A fashion designer by trade, she had been running her own sewing business after studying in Seattle, selling at a boutique and at other markets, but something was missing.
“I learned quickly: Not every market was a space for me to sell my product,” she said. “If you’re in a crowd, and people aren’t even interested in that product, it kind of hurts your feelings as a business owner.”
Those experiences led her to launch her first makers’ market. What started as a one-off morphed into the monthly Hilltop Indoor Market on first Fridays, which Griffin continues to lead. By last fall, with higher vendor and customer counts, she sought a larger space for a wider-ranging event with more than booths.
“Night markets have a different vibe — live performances, DJs, vendors on top of hot food and a bar,” she noted. “It attracts a lot more people and creates a different kind of atmosphere.”
TACOMA’S BLACK NIGHT MARKET
The Black Night Market joins a blossoming market scene in the region that hasn’t, according to other artists of color, always reached diverse audiences. A team of Seattle and Tacoma potters, for instance, launched Rain or Shine Market to highlight the work of talented creatives they, too, felt was undervalued.
In between fashion shows showcasing everything from Sarah Spice Designs’ unique swimwear to occasion gowns, Evelyn Johnston of Hunny Bun Bakery said she quickly embraced the chance to be part of this market.
From one Black-owned business to another, she said after helping a customer secure several vegan double-chocolate cookies and strawberry jam-filled pop-tarts, “Having stuff like this is so cool. I really like having community spaces where it’s everybody’s stuff.”
Raised in Hilltop and now a homeowner there herself, she knew Griffin from her first market. “I want to buy from more people like me,” she said.
Upstairs on the mezzanine — which offered a great view of the growing crowd surveying greeting cards from Rose Light Prints, paint-by-number kits from mobile party pro LaNae’s Lounge, and dishes from the kitchen tonight managed by catering company The Orange Rabbit — Keith Rountree and his father Derrick were in Tacoma for the first time. Based in Kent, they sell their soy-based R’Sential Candles with wood wicks online and at mostly Seattle-area markets.
“We love the night markets,” said Rountree, who learned of this new event through a Facebook group and then followed the Black Night Market on Instagram.
The event also provided an outlet for 75-year-old Gwendolyn Mealing, who has filled her spare time — and her kitchen table — with paintings. Her son-in-law encouraged her to try selling and helped cover the fee for the Arts at the Armory market last October. Earlier in April, she had a table at Annie Wright School’s BIPOC Market.
As we were talking, a young lady interrupted us to purchase one of her pieces.
While actual sales are the goal, the direct connection with new audiences can positively impact a small business owner, said Griffin. Vendors from past markets have contacted her after the fact to say, ‘“Hey, I met this lady and she put in a $1,000 order. I would have never met her if I wasn’t at the market today.’ Leaving that gateway of community and connecting them on the page — it creates more opportunities.”
Vendors packed every square inch of Edison Square — save for a sizable walkway down the middle where the fashion show models took their star turn. In addition to the DJ and live music performances, Mak’s Snack Shack hosted a cake decorating class tucked behind-the-scenes in the commercial kitchen. Outside, VeGo Eatz offered its vegan comfort food. The music, the energy and the conversations spilled into the street.
“It creates a connection with our customers that makes it more relatable, emotional, and makes them want to support you even more when they know a little bit more about you,” said Griffin. “There’s a lot of power in telling our stories.”
About three dozen vendors are registered for the June event. Expect new faces and different offerings every month, but always a place where everyone is welcome, as Griffin described it, to “chill out and shop and enjoy good food and music and entertainment.”
BLACK NIGHT MARKET TACOMA
▪ facebook.com/Blacknightmarket
▪ Where: Edison Square, 5415 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma
▪ When: final Friday of every month, June-December 2022; next up June 24, 4-9 p.m.
▪ What: art, fashion, food, live music, performances and classes showcasing BIPOC creatives from around the South Sound
This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM.