Topeka Vendors Market: metalSMITHCory and Jill Smith are metalSMITH, a business that repurposes discarded items into new home decor, yard art and furniture.
Photos by Emma Highfill, Rose Wheat Photography
Cory and Jill Smith are metalSMITH, a business that repurposes discarded items into new home decor, yard art and furniture.
“We take things that were going to a landfill or rotting in a farmer's field and upcycle them into one-of-kind works of art,” Jill Smith said. “Our pieces go great with farmhouse, rustic or industrial style decor, which is really popular right now. We can also work with customers to create custom pieces.”
Like a lot of small businesses, metalSMITH began with a hobby. Jill and Cory enjoyed going to auctions and flea markets together to search for old treasures. Jill often found upcycled pieces that she wanted on Pinterest and would ask Cory to make them for her with their finds. After Jill posted photos of several successful pieces on Facebook, friends and family wanted to commission pieces from Cory, too. The couple decided to give the flea market circuit a try and have officially been in business for almost seven years.
The Smiths decided to lease space in the Topeka Vendors Market after sales took a hit in 2020 because of canceled events. They were visiting the Topeka Vendors Market as shoppers when they ran into Todd Konkel and started chatting about options to lease space. The price was “doable,” with month to month rental, so the Smiths signed up. Sofar, having a shop space has been a good move.
“Some of our items are big and not easy to move, so it was a great benefit to set it up and leave it from weekend to weekend,” Jill Smith said. “When we do a flea market, the setup and teardown process is labor intensive. And in our booth, we aren’t dependent on good weather conditions.”
The Smiths also have kids, grandkids and aging parents, so it’s a bonus that they do not have to be at the market at all times, and their products can still be seen and purchased. They are hopeful that the Topeka Vendors Market will continue to grow.
“The Topeka Vendors Market has a lot of great ideas for this business district. We just hope that Topeka and surrounding communities will come out to support them, us and the other small businesses that are setup here,” Jill Smith said. “We have sheds full of rusty old barn finds that we can't wait to turn into something cool, we just need to make room in the booth.”
Contributing Writer
Miranda Ericsson is a librarian, poet, and freelance writer. She’s interested in leadership, technology, and the many ways that local businesses enrich our community. Ericsson majored in creative writing at Washburn University in Topeka and earned her Master of Library and Information Science from Emporia State University. Her work has been published in Inscape, Argo, Homewords, XYZ Magazine, and TK Business Magazine.
