Local Small Business Owner Creates Popular Sunday Market
Writer / Renée Larr
Photography Provided by The Market in McCordsville
In 2021 Summer Harper was looking for additional avenues where she could showcase her woodworking business, Simply Summer. She realized there weren’t many Sunday markets in the area. So, she took matters into her own hands to create The Market in McCordsville.
“I approached the people at Trax BBQ and Scarlet Lane Brewing Company,” Harper says. “They were more than happy to let me set up a market in the area near their businesses. We did an 11-week market season, but I had difficulty finding produce vendors. So, it ended up being more of a craft market of about 20-25 vendors.”
Learning from the previous year, Harper pivoted and decided to hold the market on select Sundays this year. The Market in McCordsville Fall Event is Sept. 25 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be more of a fall festival to celebrate the cooler weather and the changing of the season.
“We’re hoping to have around 30 different vendors for this event,” Harper says. “Previously, we’ve had a couple of jewelry vendors, craft vendors, macrame vendors, crystals, soaps, dog treats and artists. We’re also hoping to have some music, balloon art, or face painting for the kids.”
Harper’s relationship with Scarlet Lane Brewing Company included creating custom wood pieces for their brewery. Her business started as small home decor pieces but quickly escalated to designing custom pieces for clients.
“It started out with smaller items, but now I’m making all kinds of things,” Harper says. “I have made some of the tables in Scarlet Lane Brewing Company. They have the horror movie theme going on there, so I also made the human-sized coffins you see in the brewery. Clients come to me with an idea, and I can usually create it.”
Scarlet Lane Brewing Company and Trax BBQ will be open for the fall event. Guests can peruse the market and enjoy barbecue and beer afterward. Harper hopes she can secure produce and floral vendors for next year’s market. She’d like to expand the market to more weekends in the future.
“I would definitely love to expand it to more dates next year,” Harper says. “It would be great if we could find more vendors to participate each week. There isn’t really anything else like it in McCordsville, so it would be nice to expand a little.”
The Market in McCordsville is located at 7724 Depot St. To participate in the fall event, email simplysummermade@gmail.com. For more information, visit facebook.com/themarketinmccordsville.
