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Photo by Sam Harrel

Photo by Sam Harrel

Photo by Sam Harrel

FAIRBANKS — Woodworker John Megyesi knows people are more apt to buy his hand-made products when they see the details up close — designs that flow with the shape of the wood, finishes that showcase natural grain, shelf edges congruent with the white spruce bark.

But it’s hard to offer that opportunity online, where a picture may be worth a thousand words but is far from tangible.

That’s why he’s been a regular vendor at The Open Market since Louise Morris opened the College Road business about six weeks ago, offering a physical location from which entrepreneurs like Megyesi can showcase their products.

“If people have a small business in their home, this is the place to market it,” Morris said. “This gives them a storefront where they can direct customers.”

The Open Market offers space for rent. Many of Morris’ vendors are craftspeople, although some sell established product lines such as Avon cosmetics or Lia Sophia jewelry. They can set up tables and displays for days, weeks or months and keep their own hours within the market’s.

Until now, Megyesi marketed his shelves, cribbage boards and furniture from a Web site, which has shortcomings, he said.

“You see a picture of something and think it looks cool, but pictures don’t do the wood justice,” he said.

Traffic to his Web site has picked up noticeably since he started showcasing his wares at The Open Market.

“This has been great for me,” he said. “I’ve been working out of my home. ... This gives me a retail outlet.”

That’s just what Morris was aiming for.

Working as a hairdresser, Morris heard many women lament about the lack of a storefront for crafts or products they sell from home or online. She’s hopeful The Open Market will offer that space at reasonable prices. At the same time, Morris wants to offer a safe alternative to selling from home and opportunities to network with other entrepreneurs.

Plus, shoppers can observe some crafters work.

Watching people ply their crafts encourages custom orders and appreciation of one-of-a-kind work, something Morris said has been lost in today’s mass-market retail environment. The connection becomes a potentially profitable link between artisan and consumer.

Beader Patty Olsen usually gets right to work once she’s set up her display at The Open Market.

Born and raised in Fairbanks, Olsen developed early an appreciation for Athabascan beadwork. A creative crafter by nature, she sought instruction from family and friends and honed her skills.

She’s sold jewelry and other hand-crafted items for more than 20 years — always without a retail space where customers could peruse the products. Now, her booth at the market is laden with unique, creative items. Beaded wallets and checkbook covers sit alongside handcrafted notecards and delicate crowns with beaded flowers and flowing ribbon — an alternative headdress for brides and flower girls. A life-size rose is a composite of individually beaded petals, bound together with a green stem. A replica bonsai tree has beaded needles on outstretched branches — the only bonsai tree Olsen has ever kept alive, she joked.

“If it can be made out of beads, I’ll try it,” Olsen said.

Her specialty is beaded leather, such as moosehide wallets with real caribou fur cut in the shape of a seal and shaved short to resemble a seal’s coat. Golden beads edge the cover. On another piece, multi-hued beads of purple, red and pink trace the lines of a traditional Native rose on a backdrop of lambskin.

Drawing needles laced with thread through leather is challenging, Olsen said, but she enjoys working with traditional Athabascan designs. She uses a couching stitch, a complicated piece of coordination manipulating two needles at once, something browsers seem to enjoy stopping to examine for a while.

Olsen has never had a storefront where people can view her products or watch her work. She’s stocked tables at bazaars, but those are seasonal. She said eBay is a good way to get her work out in front of shoppers, but it doesn’t give customers the chance to handle and discuss her products like they can at The Open Market.

“It’s 10 times more the opportunity,” Olsen said. “Even with eBay, people see a picture. They don’t get to touch. Here, you get much more a sense of something being hand-made.”

And so far, she’s selling enough to keep on coming.

Some days are slower than others as shoppers drop in on a whim to see what’s inside. A regular clientele will take time to build, Morris said. And for now, rental rates are pretty low. Morris expects to raise those rates as her business — and the businesses she serves — become more established.

Customers shouldn’t necessarily count on the same vendors week to week or even day to day. Some will display wares cyclically, with weeks in between to rebuild inventories, Morris explained. Others have rented space since opening day and plan to maintain that presence.

Tarot reader and astrologer Kay Simpler rents a private room at The Open Market, sheltered from customers by a beaded curtain. She finds the market a great fit for her needs.

Simpler used to offer readings from her home in North Pole, but found her clients didn’t want to travel even that far.

Having regular quarters is drawing new business, too. A first-time tarot reading is rarely planned in advance, Simpler said, making visibility crucial.

“It’s an urge,” she explained. “People walk by and see it, and poof, they want a reading.”

While the market is working well for many of her vendors, Morris said she knows her ultimate success depends in large part on her clients — the entrepreneurs who rent space.

She realizes some people with the talent and desire to sell their crafts might lack basic business skills that could ultimately influence their home-based success. Morris plans to coordinate with the Small Business Development Center to provide resources — or at least directions to resources — that will help her customers.

It’s another way the entrepreneur is identifying need and meeting demand.

“I’m only successful if she’s successful,” Morris said. “I need to offer vendors the things they need to be successful.”