Copperhive Vintage’s Small Biz Bash — a showcase of local makers, crafters and vintage sellers — didn’t start out as the market it is now.
Held the day after Black Friday, otherwise known as Small Business Saturday, Small Biz Bash got its start as a casual annual gathering among creative friends, said Copperhive Vintage owner Jacqueline Whitmore.
Before Copperhive Vintage moved to its South Salt Lake location in 2022, when it was still on 700 East, Whitmore would invite other small-business owners to share in her store’s busiest and most profitable day of the year. Those sellers — who often didn’t have a physical space of their own — would set up at the shop, and Copperhive Vintage would make a fun day out of it, welcoming holiday shoppers with multiple options for locally sourced gifts.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Unique holiday gift displays are pictured at Copperhive Vintage in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023.
After the move to 2709 S. State St., Copperhive Vintage began holding Small Biz Bash officially, advertising the event ahead of time, putting out a call for vendors, and holding a lottery to fill those slots.
Small Biz Bash, happening this year on Saturday, from noon to 5 p.m., is one of Whitmore’s ways of giving back to the community and celebrating small businesses.
“My goal with Small Biz Bash is to really normalize handmade gifts, normalize secondhand gifts, and also thank our community all year for supporting the shop,” she said.
To show that thanks, Whitmore will be holding a rare flash sale, with everything in Copperhive Vintage marked down 30% off.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jacqueline Whitmore, owner of Copperhive Vintage in Salt Lake City, prepares a Christmas display on Tuesday, Nov. 21. 2023.
Whitmore also sees Small Biz Bash as a form of mutual aid for Utah’s small businesses, which are the “lifeblood of the city,” she said, but are struggling in the current economy and amid local road construction.
“I’m not in a space to make any big changes monetarily or through direct action, but I feel like this is one small way that I can maybe impact someone’s month for November, and maybe they can have a little bit of extra money for food or living or whatever,” she said.
The festive pop-up market will feature 15 small businesses this year, including Thrifty Cammy’s, Tahoe Pine, Space Babes Art, Mother Muse, Bewitched Bath & Body Potion and Lotions, Bright & Stormy Kids, Tangerine Stardust, Eclipse Wolf, Evil Hand Shop, Trailer Park Liberace, Bluff Street Bandit, Caffeinated Otter, Part Wildflower SLC, Queerations, and Whitmore’s own plus-size clothing and accessories brand, Chubby Dust Bunny.
Space Babes Art
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Artist Shanna O’neill shows off some of her original prints she will be selling at Copperhive Vintage in Salt Lake City for the upcoming Small Biz Bash. The event is a pop-up market on Small Business Saturday that celebrates local makers, crafters and vintage sellers who don't have a physical location.
Shanna O’Neill of Space Babes Art is a queer, nonbinary artist, and they said that living that experience, “all the fun and not-so-fun things that come with that,” is a big inspiration for their artwork.
One of their stickers reads, “All queer, no fear,” a sentiment that sums up Space Babes Art well.
“I’m making or creating art and accessories to allow the wearer/owner to express themselves without shame or apology,” O’Neill said. “... I know what it’s like to kind of not be out, not be able to express that. So I feel good now being able to give other people things to wear or to own that celebrate their own identities.”
O’Neill mostly does digital art, which they use to create enamel pins, stickers and art prints. Rendered with bold colors and heavy line work, their creations are influenced by pop culture, horror, anime and the traditional American tattoo style.
One of O’Neill’s “favorite” things they’ve been working on this year is what they call “blob” prints, which are groupings of colorful blobs with faces.
Created when O’Neill was facing “art block,” the blob drawings were just as a way to “do something fun,” without any expectations or pressure, they said.
The expressive blobs will be available at Small Biz Bash on prints as well as stickers. O’Neill said they will also have for sale all of their enamel pins, other stickers, sticker books, stationery, patches, keychains and art prints, along with mystery pin bags priced at $15 for three pins.
O’Neill, who was at Small Biz Bash last year, said events put together by community leaders like Whitmore give artists who have different levels of experience a platform to sell their art and connect with other creators. O’Neill said “community connection and supporting one another is really one of the most important things” for small-business owners.
They added that supporting small businesses is important because “shopping local is the only way to ensure that our local artists and shops stay in business,” O’Neill said.
Caffeinated Otter
(Rachel Kade) Strawberry holiday ornaments made by fiber artist Rachel Kade are shown in this undated photo.
Rachel Kade of Caffeinated Otter didn’t know her crocheted creations were on trend until her kids informed her, she said. Kade makes “cute things that make me happy,” with lots of acorns, strawberries and mushrooms and a “kitschy vintage vibe,” which, as it turns out, are perfect for lovers for cottagecore style.
“I joke that I put mushrooms on everything,” she said.
But what started out as an “accident” has been Kade’s gain, and she’s “been kind of riding that wave since it’s what I like to make anyway,” she said.
Kade has been crocheting for about 40 years, ever since her mother taught her how when she was a little kid. Kade started her current business venture because not only did she have extra time on her hands during the pandemic, but she also had made so many things they were taking over her house, she said, laughing.
The fiber artist — who is also returning to Small Biz Bash — makes purses, treasure pouches and accessories such as hats, scarves and patches. Lately, she’s been working on a collection of items that are charming enough for a small child but sized for adult fans of cute.
At Small Biz Bash, Kade will be debuting her line of crocheted Christmas ornaments, which will be three-dimensional strawberries, acorns, mushrooms and holiday “baubles.”
She said she loves selling her artwork in person because she loves meeting people, as well as “selling them something cute and seeing them enjoy it.”
Kade will be donating a portion of all of her December proceeds to the Coconut Hut SLC, which is a mutual aid group that helps the unsheltered community.
Follow Space Babes Art (@spacebabesart) and Caffeinated Otter (@caffeinated_otter) on Instagram.
