Know-it-all in NJ: Market House

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Market House

I'm part of a lot of mom exchange/selling pages on Facebook, mom message boards, and other social media communities. Somewhere I'd seen that a local mom had opened a cool store in Westwood. I wasn't exactly sure what it was but I assumed some kind of home goods store. As long as it wasn't a lighting store, I wanted to check it out. I liked their Facebook page and I saw some baby clothes and other stuff in my feed so I knew it wasn't lighting.

E had off for teacher's convention last week so I figured we'd take a ride over to Westwood on Friday afternoon. So that's what we did.

The store is in a good spot by the movie theater. That means a lot of people who might not ordinarily see the store definitely will. It's really. It looks like a store that would be in Nyack, NY. Sarah & Chelsea are the owners. They met while teaching yoga in Harrington Park, N.J and became fast friends. Sarah had a home-based organic body product company called Yogi's Choice. She was selling mostly at farmer's markets all over the area. People kept telling her that she should open a store. So after much discussion, ironing out details, and finding a location, they opened Market House together. They wanted to give a platform to all the amazing artists they'd come across in their travels who don't have a brick and mortar space to showcase their talent.

They sell all kinds of unique goods. Handbags, clothing, soaps, jewelry, accessories, and even some food. All handmade by local artisans. Not people who just sew in their house or whatever but people who have legit businesses making interesting, beautiful, and useful specialty items. I looked all over for a kid's bowtie and vest or suspender set a few weeks ago. I trolled the entire Bergen Town Center and came up with NOTHING. Guess what? Market House has them. Fun stuff too- like the Avengers bowtie and suspender set. Not just the average satin ones you'd expect.

For holiday gifts too- this is your spot. Don't run all over to the malls. They have so many different genres of stuff, you'll find what you need.

What I find to be the special piece of this story is that they really know all the artists. It's not like a typical store that just has "vendors". These are people who do work that Sarah & Chelsea handpick to give a spot in their small store. They seem like they really take care in who they choose to showcase. They don't just take anyone's stuff. They all have a synergistic philosophy.