1st Saturday Market wrapping up 4th season

PALMER — The 1st Saturday Vendor Market is nearing the end of its fourth season. According to the Market founder Casey Kruger, it’s been another successful year featuring local vendors who’ve been supported by community minded shoppers.

“Things have been going great,” Kruger said.

The 1st Saturday Vendor Market is a monthly marketplace that brings a variety of small business owners from across the Mat-Su Valley to one place, giving community members a place to shop and socialize with their friends and family while finding unique items that cannot be found at conventional box stores.

According to Kruger, over 90 percent of the items are made in Alaska. She said the emphasis centers around promoting hand crafted goods. She said it’s also been a great way to support local food trucks.

“I love that fact. That way, people can shop local,” Kruger said.

Kruger said there’s no shortage of quality products to browse through thanks to the sheer amount of local talent present in the community.

“It’s unbelievable," Kruger said.

According to Kruger, they’ve had an average of 30 to 32 vendors during each Market this year. She said that about half of the vendors present attend each market throughout the season while the other half consists of rotating vendors from across the community. She said that she’s enjoyed offering new and experienced small business owners a platform to highlight their products.

“It's been really nice to have fresh new people back and forth as well as our seasoned vendors,” Kruger said.

The 1st Saturday Vendor Market season typically runs from October to May. Kruger said the last four years has been an enjoyable journey with so much public participation.

“The Market has been awesome. We've loved having the community come together,” Kruger said. “It's cool to still have new people discover the Market.”

Kruger established the Market during the early years of the COVID-19 Pandemic as a way for small businesses to keep their operations going while proving a social gathering place for community members. She said the amount of interest from both vendors and shoppers motivated the decision to keep the Market going year after year.

“We knew we needed an opportunity for people to still make money and still have a social outlet," Kruger said. “We’re so glad that we could offer that.”

Looking forward, Kruger said that she wants to maintain the annual shopping tradition and help it flourish as a “happy, friendly, and welcoming place.”

“I would love to see the market continue to grow,” Kruger said.

As the name implies, the 1st Saturday Vendor Market takes place during the first Saturday of each month from October to May at the Borough Gym located at 350 East Dahlia Avenue in downtown Palmer. The final Market of the season takes place Saturday, May 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information about the 1st Saturday Vendor Market, visit the official Facebook page or call 907-715-2018.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com