Junkin’ Market Days to make second stop in Rochester next weekend – Post Bulletin

ROCHESTER — After a successful first round in Rochester last spring, Junkin’ Market Days will be returning the weekend of Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 to provide another indoor market of local and regional small businesses.

The idea of Junkin Market Days came to owner and lead organizer Kerry Bamsey in spring of 2021 while attending similar events in Nebraska and Minnesota. After seeing a depletion of these events in her home state of South Dakota and its neighbor to the north, Bamsey decided to create an event of her own that travels to cities across six different states.

“A couple of things I look for when I bring the event to a community is there definitely has to be enough small business owners to support the show,” Bamsey said. “I also need the support of the community, and that’s not only people that are shopping, but that’s also the local tourism bureaus and they help with the marketing of these events.”

Other cities Junkin’ Market Days makes pit stops include Fargo, Grand Forks, the Iowa cities of Cedar Rapids and Davenport, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Bamsey is based. Most of these cities on Junkin’ Market Days fall tour list are either their second or third time stopping there. Rochester hosted Junkin’ Market Days for the first time on March 18-19, 2022.

As Junkin’ Market Days does bring small businesses on the road to the cities it stops in, the event is also focused on highlighting local small businesses, especially those that are women-owned in those communities. In fact, somewhere between 60-70% of businesses at the events are women-owned.

Some of the local Rochester businesses that will be at the event next weekend include Fusion Bouzion, Prairie Looms, Twin Arrows Leather and Roasted Bliss.

The Junkin’ Market Days events Bamsey has organized so far have seen an average of 90% women shoppers. That helps Bamsey to figure out which local businesses she wants to incorporate into the event with each city they travel to.

“The women in the community really want to support the local businesses because they have friends that are makers. A lot of the women like to support the community and like to interact with that maker. You can walk up, you can try on the clothes, it’s a different shopping experience than shopping online,” said Bamsey. “Since a majority of our shoppers are women, it’s nice for them to know they’re actually shopping from female-owned small businesses.”

Junkin’ Market Days will take place at Graham Arena Complex One with admission for all ages at $5. The event will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Many of the vendors will have seasonal gifts for both the fall and upcoming holiday season.