Midtown holiday pop-up shops return today to Oklahoma City - Oklahoma - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

At the northeast corner of Hudson and N.W. 10th are a couple dozen pop-up shops for the holidays. You'll see a tree lot at the corner, and the white pop-up tents for businesses and organizations.

Article text:

For the ninth year in a row, holiday pop-up shops are welcoming shoppers in Midtown.

Organizers say they found space to grow in the pandemic.

“Yes, things are a little bit different,” said Cleo Rajon, executive director of the Independent Shopkeepers Association.

Bigger and better than ever before.

“In 2020 we had to rethink everything just like everyone else, and then 2021 we’re thinking things through again and growing the event, taking it as an opportunity to feature more shops and learn from everything we went through,” she said.

Organizers are ready to welcome shoppers in Midtown.

“We're a nonprofit association that supports local shops throughout the year. We want more of them to be able to come out and we want them to be able to come out more than once if they want to,” she said.

The shops open for guests on weekends between Black Friday and the weekend before Christmas.

Each weekend brings a new set of local vendors.

“We want to bring as many of them as possible in one place to make it convenient for everyone to shop local,” she said.

Organizers spend months getting things ready.

"This is, believe it or not, this is a year-long process. We start the application process in March, shops get elected by the summer and then everything starts getting set up in the fall,” she said.

A labor of love, but this year is missing a few names.

"We had several local shops that had to close. Some of them are not able to come out here because they don't have the staff to do the event on top of their brick and mortar,” she said.

From shipping issues to staffing shortages, shopping local is on the minds of many this year.

Visiting the shops doesn’t have to be just about buying gifts.

"We have the Big Friendly Beer Bus and Katie Bugs hot chocolate for the kids. We have Curbside wrapping paper which benefits the Homeless Alliance and then we'll probably have a few visits from Santa,” she said.

The shops are near NW 10th and Hudson. If you’re looking for a Christmas tree, the Bishop John Carroll School tree lot is next door.

Type of publication: Television When was the article reported?: 11/26/2021 Publication: koco Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Arts/Culture

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