With warm weather in full swing, outdoor market season is inevitable. One of the best parts about the sunshine is discovering new and local vendors with awesome art and goods to share. Bushwick is no exception to the artisanal market craze, and the owners of Lazy Suzy Cafe and Shop are bringing the people of Bushwick just that.
This Sunday, July 14 from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Lazy Suzy is hosting their first Bushwick Artisan Market. Approximately 20 vendors that are mostly local to Bushwick will be selling art, planters, jewelry, nut butters, and so much more.
The idea for the market started from the hope of connecting a community of people. “Sharing is in our name and core values. We want our cafe to be an inclusive place where all types of people come together for meaningful experiences,” said partner and co-founder of Lazy Suzy, Andy Chu.
With any event, community interest is essential in building something meaningful and successful. “We initially drew interest when we announced the possibility of an event like this on our Instagram page and were overwhelmed with the support. A couple of people signed up early and then we continued promoting through word-of-mouth until we filled out the rest of the spots,” Chu told Bushwick Daily.
The cafe has been open for only a few months, but is making strides in building and cultivating that creative spirit Bushwick is known for. “Since Bushwick is home to so many creative souls and people who appreciate them, we figured there’d be a desire to experience creative works together,” said Chu.
Part of fostering an inclusive space means making the barrier of entry more accessible to independent local artists by making it free to set up a booth with your own equipment.
The owners of Lazy Suzy wanted anyone to feel like they can be apart of the Artisan Market without any extra burdensome costs.
“Lazy Suzy is not taking a cut of any of their sales, [so] when you attend the [Artisan Market] and make a purchase, 100 percent of your money will go into supporting the local artist [and]local business,” Chu explains.
The vendor lineup is diverse with lots of product offerings making it easy for Bushwick residents to find something they resonate with. Some vendors that’ll make an appearance at the Artisan Market include Ollie’s Ice Cream and Stuff, which is known for serving up human and dog-friendly ice cream, and Fog City Sundries with their unique nut butter and honey offerings.
With about 2000 square feet of outdoor space, Lazy Suzy is well equipped to handle this type of event. Although it’s a new business they’ve managed to hold events such as dog adoptions and a floral pop-up shop. The owners show no sign of slowing down anytime soon with local business collaborations forefront of everything they believe about building community.
“All of the owners at Lazy Suzy Cafe & Shop are born and raised, lifelong Brooklynites and we care about what happens in the community. We have been carefully selective about what kind of events we want to use our space for and which businesses [and] organizations we want to partner with,” explains Chu.
If you can’t make it out, there will definitely be more to come. We just unveiled a partnership with Little Shop of Soil and will be hosting a Plant Swap Party on Sunday July 21,” said Chu.
Check Lazy Suzy’s Instagram for artist and vendor profiles and to get updates on the Bushwick Artisan Market.
All photos courtesy of Lazy Suzy.
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