Under the holiday bistro lights, the nose tingling smell of baked Cheese Haus sandwiches and sweet hot chocolate filled the air of Seaport this past holiday season at Boston’s annual Snowport Winter Village pop-up.
The Holiday Market is an iconic, hallmark spot for university students, locals, families, co-workers and furry friends to gather and enjoy the season.
Aisles between stores were filled with hustle and bustle, everyone chatting about holiday plans and finding the perfect gift, all while the classic Andy Williams’ “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” played from the speakers. Long lines for food spanned the food court, with attendees anticipating a variety of treats from food vendors — ranging from piping hot, whipped cream-topped cocktails from Tuscan Kitchen’s Betty’s Bar to The Frenchman’s Crepes’ gooey chocolate crêpes made right in front of you, to Dumpling Daughter dumplings — all to enjoy around the fire pits and adirondack chairs in the square.
Beyond yummy delights, Snowport brings together small businesses from around the world. From holiday scented candles, pet food, handmade jewelry, blown glass and chocolate cars, a range of products are displayed and brought together through the many pop ups.
For local small business owners like Gina Pina, founder and owner of Gp Organics and resident of Seaport, the market is a chance to meet and connect with shoppers and grow her business.
“People coming by and buying gifts for their loved ones and wanting something that’s locally handmade, and [not] something that’s mass produced, and being able to tell me who they [are] shopping for and ask me to make recommendations and suggestions,” Pina said, discussing her favorite part of the market. “It’s finding the perfect gift that’s fun [and] making bundles with my customers, kits and packages,” she said.
Gp Organics sells all organic, handmade, chemical and fragrance free skincare, soap and candle products.
This was Pina’s fifth year at Snowport and each year the market has been an outlet for her to meet employees of bigger companies from around the area who visit and connect with local stores like hers.
“We tend to get connected to big companies and a lot of other shows [and] other businesses would come here and invite us to events throughout the year [at] hospitals, apartment buildings or just businesses to pop up in their lobby or their cafeteria,” she said.
Her company was inspired by her daughter, who has mild alopecia. Pina, who has a chemistry background, started making hair growth and eczema treatment products for her daughter seven years ago and has expanded since.
For Samantha Anderson, studio manager for the Hip Hope Hoorah jewelry booth, designing the booth was a great opportunity to interact with customers.
“I think my favorite part of the booth is our wreath that we had up last year. This year we finally got it so it sits in front of the mirror for our Instagrammable moments. Often you will get people in here just taking selfies in the mirror,” Anderson said.
The handmade jewelry collection is female founded, owned and staffed. The studio is based in Denver, Colo. but also has a space in Dover, Mass. Employees collect vintage beaded items from stores and remake them into necklaces and bag charms, as well as use them for their Charm Bar, where customers can design their own bracelet or necklace.
She said the most exciting pieces selling this year are her gold-filled and genuine gemstone necklaces. The pieces were inspired by providing birthstone gems to customers.
The Drift Collective, based in Portsmouth, N.H., brings its upcycled clothing and apparel brand to Boston pop-ups throughout the year. Kaitlyn McGuire works primarily at the brand’s holiday pop-ups in the area and has been working at The Drift Collective’s Snowport store for the past two years.
“We’re here because we definitely want to be part of celebrating local businesses, sharing a little bit of what New Hampshire has to offer, especially our founder’s mission of creating more sustainability, especially within the clothing industry and other products that we consume as well,” McGuire said.
The Drift Collective’s designs are created in-house and all clothing is hand-stitched by employees. To McGuire, one of the best parts of working for the brand is being able to share that story with other people.
“I think everybody is just so happy. [Snowport] is a great way to end the year, seeing people bring joy to people,” she said. “I’ve met people today where it was their first time in Boston and they’re traveling, or they just moved here, going to school here and sharing [with] them about our story and getting them excited about gift giving and stuff like that, just like spreading joy.”
