Artisan Marketplace in McHenry spotlights small, women-owned businesses

Of the nearly two dozen vendors with booths at McHenry’s Artisan Marketplace, all but one run by is a women, and that is how Cyndi Sarabia wants it.

“I try to promote small, women-owned businesses” to give them a spot to sell their crafts, said Sarabia, who opened her store a year ago at 1245 N. Green St.

Many of those booth owners started their businesses at craft shows and weekend events.

Several still do those markets, but others wanted a bricks-and-mortar storefront location instead to reduce the unknowns surrounding outdoor sales.

“You set up and take down a tent, pay $300 to be there, then it is pouring rain. You have to make that money up first” and might not make a profit, Sarabia said.

She said she loves when shoppers come in to the store and start talking about the variety of items for sale.

“They are excited about the things they see here and don’t see in other places. That makes me happy, that they came in and found something they like.”

Not everything is 100% handmade, but all the vendors are local and sell the types of things shoppers might see at craft fairs.

“It is a mixture of everything,” Sarabia said.

Each of the vendors, Sarabia included, pay toward the building rent. There are no paid employees, but vendors must work in the store each week to keep their spots.

What buyers see is a little bit of everything, from home decor to jewelry to vintage clothing.

The biggest challenge is getting shoppers to think about downtown McHenry, Sarabia said. While the town is getting known for its Riverwalk, restaurants and nightlife, getting buyers to think about shopping downtown is taking longer.

McHenry’s Riverwalk Shoppes, a retail incubator where shop owners can learn before moving into a bigger, permanent space, bring customers to the area on weekends, she said.

Sarabia has gotten advice on how to be successful with the shop from Carol Chrisman, who owns the Wild Orchid Boutique and Trend Cellar, and Pam Martell at The Cottage Boutique.

Making sure each booth is updated, that the walkways are clear and that the store has a lot of product without being crowded is part of that vision, too, Sarabia said.

“I like the momentum we are on, to attract new business” in McHenry, Chrisman said. “More are trying to open and more are coming because they know McHenry is the place to be to open a new business.”

“They know it is going to a place, a destination, like a downtown Lake Geneva.”

—  Cyndi Sarabia, Artisan Marketplaces

Sarabia agreed. “People want to be here, and people want the places” to shop in McHenry. “They know it is going to a place, a destination, like a downtown Lake Geneva.

[Retailers] They are going to get in and hold out, hoping that it is going to work,” she said.