When Briana Kohlbrenner and her husband moved to Syracuse in 2003, one of their favorite things to do was visit local markets. But it wasn’t long before they felt they had seen everything there was to see.

Kohlbrenner wanted more, so she decided to create a market of her own.

In 2009, Kohlbrenner and her friend Vanessa Rose started the Salt Market, a marketplace that, once a year, features items created and sold by artists in the central New York region.

“There is no other market like it in the area,” Kohlbrenner said. “Our customers like that we are constantly bringing something fresh to the market scene.”

This Saturday, Kohlbrenner and Rose are embarking on their biggest venture yet: a showcase of 56 vendors, compared to the 30–50 they’ve hosted in previous years.

“It is a lot of work but we are growing every year,” Kohlbrenner said. “The market offers something for everyone and is targeted for people of all ages and not from one specific area.”

The market had a good showing in its first year and has grown since. Kohlbrenner and Rose expanded their team in 2010 to include Stasya Erickson and Courtney Rile.

“We found people wanted to support the market and wanted to shop more,” Kohlbrenner said.

The expansion of the market is partially attributed to this year’s new location at SKY Armory, Kohlbrenner said. SKY Armory is an event space that opened in Armory Square last month.

Amy Bleier Long, the social media and marketing director for SKY Armory, said the market would be set up along two modern, open floors of the space.

“It has a downtown, urban vibe that is great for craft people to share their creativity together,” she said. “We are local partners with food and drink companies from the area and we think the market is a great community event.

Kohlbrenner said she hopes the Salt Market will continue to expand and even one day hold a second market in the spring.

Preparation for the event begins about six months in advance, and the event is always held in October, Kohlbrenner said.

During the summer, Kohlbrenner and her team usually spend one to two months looking for vendors and hiring artists to design promotion items for the event, such as posters and tote bags.

One of this year’s participants is Recess Coffee, located in the Westcott area. Recess has been a vendor at the market for five years. Allison Beondé, the communications coordinator for Recess Coffee, said the company always enjoys coming to the market to connect with old and new vendors. 

“We really love the opportunity to see all of the wonderful creative products and art being produced in our region,” Beondé said.

Six months of planning culminates this weekend, and it’s Kohlbrenner’s favorite day of the entire process.

“The whole day is full of adrenaline and meeting old and new artists. It is hard to resist buying everything and spending all of my money,” she said, laughing.

Published on October 16, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Taylor: tgeorges@syr.edu