We all know that Covid-19 has made it difficult for small businesses to survive. Take a drive down lower Greenville Avenue and you’ll see several of our favorite local spots closed, some indefinitely. Mudsmith apparently moved to the suburbs and Tacos Mariachi is shuttered due to lack of foot traffic since most bars have closed.
Although we see so many empty storefronts it’s hard not to imagine what will take their place once things go back to “normal.” Whatever that may look like in the future. I still try to stay optimistic in the face of all this uncertainty because the uncertainty is what forces us to think of options we wouldn’t have before and it drives our innovation.
When I see empty retail spaces and parking lots, all I see are opportunities for us to help. This is what prompted me to reach out to Flatbread Co. Dallas after eating on their beautiful patio a few months ago. I noticed they had a side lot with some empty garage spaces. Flatbread Co. used to be an old Firestone Auto and thought this would be a perfect place to host a vendor event or monthly vendor pop-up. Luckily for me, Victoria Crespi, the manager, was thinking the same exact thing! She had been considering hosting a vendor event but didn’t know where to start. After telling her about how the Vendorzs app allows small businesses like hers to easily host a vendor event, they were all in. Flatbread Co. is new to town and they are already finding ways to support the community by working with Dallas Cotillion Club to donate a portion of sales to benefit Genesis Women’s Shelter. Flatbread Co. also hosts local musicians and artists and hopes to find other ways to get involved with the Dallas small business community.
By creating an event using the Vendorzs app they were able to help other small businesses generate sales as well as bring new customers to Flatbread Co. Vendorzs helped them create their first test event, Flatbread’s Fall Fest. With only a short time to plan we had four vendors quickly sign up and pay for their space through the app and the first event was a huge success! We know that people are much more comfortable outdoors due to Covid-19 so we had quite a few people walk up and purchase what the vendors had to offer. Abond Vintage and Slackers Closet were selling a wide selection of men’s and women’s true vintage clothing and accessories. The Vegan Time Machine brought their signature banana Space Pudding and Curious Candles delighted folks with their delicious smelling hand poured soy candles. Several people asked if Flatbread’s would be hosting more events like this the future so we know this is something the community really enjoyed.
Vendorzs’ mission is to support small businesses by giving them affordable easy tools to create their own events and for vendors to pick and pay for their event space faster. We look forward to helping other small businesses get creative and thrive during this uncertain time.