Now open, Fina's Market specializes in handcrafted goods, artist accessibility

Greta Cross, Springfield News-Leader
·2 min read
Fina's Market, a 6300 square-foot vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.
Fina's Market, a 6300 square-foot vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.

A new vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods is open in central Springfield. With an official grand opening date in May, the market is still looking for artists to fill its booths.

Fina's Market is a 6,300-square-foot vendor market located at 1635 W. Walnut St., attached to the Route 66 Car Museum. The space is laid out similarly to a flea market, with individual booths featuring handmade goods from local artists, including woodworking, paintings, clothing and jewelry.

Emily Jimenez and Amanda Jimenez co-owners of Fina's Market talks about plans for the vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.
Emily Jimenez and Amanda Jimenez co-owners of Fina's Market talks about plans for the vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.

Mother and daughter duo Amanda and Emily Jimenez co-own Fina's Market. Amanda said she has "always had small businesses," so offering an affordable space for local artists to showcase and sell their work is important to her. Amanda and Emily both emphasized this accessibility.

"Our goal is to find the people who don't have the resources ... so they can start selling their artwork, get their names out there and raise the money to help them advance," Amanda said.

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Fina's Market, a 6,300-square-foot vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.
Fina's Market, a 6,300-square-foot vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.

What makes Fina's Market different from a traditional flea market, Amanda said, is the emphasis on handmade items. She said at least 60% of the products sold at Fina's Market were handcrafted.

As of Friday, Amanda said about 20-25 vendor booths remain available for rent. Booths vary in size and range from $10-96 per month, depending on their size and location in the market. Individualized rooms are also available for rent for $300-400 a month, Amanda said. These rooms may be used as private studios or booths to sell products. Fina's Market takes an 11% commission from products sold at vendor booths.

Keychains for sale at Fina's Market, a 6,300-square-foot vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.
Keychains for sale at Fina's Market, a 6,300-square-foot vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.

In addition to the vendor market, Fina's Market also features an art gallery. In the art gallery, local artists may showcase their work, just for display or for sale. Amanda said they are still working to fill the space, so at this time, any artist can stop by the market with their work to be hung or placed on a shelf. It is free for artists to display their work in the art gallery, and Fina's Market takes 25% commission of works sold.

Looking toward the future, Amanda and Emily hope to offer art supplies for sale, a community room, photo and video studio, classroom for evening and weekend workshops, and a biweekly farmer's market.

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Floral arrangements for sale at Fina's Market, a 6,300-square-foot vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.
Floral arrangements for sale at Fina's Market, a 6,300-square-foot vendor market specializing in local, handcrafted goods at 1635 W. Walnut St. on Friday, April 21, 2023.

Fina's Market's first farmer's market is during the business' official grand opening on Saturday, May 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Emily said initially, farmer's market booths will be $20 per day. The farmer's market will be held in the back lot behind the business, accessible from West Walnut Street.

Fina's Market is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Fina's Market features handcrafted goods by regional artists