A Treasure Around Every Corner | The Market At MacVicar

By Jen Leclair
Photos By Brian Peters

When Lisa Werner and her husband took over The Market at MacVicar, they inherited more than a collection of longtime vendors.

They also inherited Karl.

The Market’s resident shop cat came with the territory, and these days, the 14-year-old feline is practically part of the brand. Customers regularly ask where Karl is when they stop in, and the shop even celebrates his birthday with an annual event. He’s also known to patrol the back door in search of the occasional Italian wall lizard that finds its way inside.

For Lisa, that’s just one of the unexpected joys of owning a small business.

“I didn’t really see myself as an entrepreneur,” she said. “But this is a little different. It’s fun.”

That sense of fun is easy to find at The Market at MacVicar, located at 10th and MacVicar in Topeka. With more than 40 vendors and 50 booths, the shop offers an eclectic mix of antiques, vintage items, collectibles, home décor, jewelry, handbags, gifts and handmade crafts.

It’s the kind of place where shoppers can walk in looking for one thing and walk out with something they didn’t even know they needed.

FROM HOBBY TO HOMETOWN BUSINESS

Lisa’s path to business ownership began simply enough.

After she and her husband became empty nesters, the couple began visiting auctions and estate sales together as an inexpensive way to spend the day. Before long, they had accumulated more items than they could keep, so they started selling their finds on eBay.

Then came a booth. Then another.

In 2018, they became vendors at The Market at MacVicar. Just a few months later, the shop’s owner decided to move on from the antique business. Lisa saw an opportunity and decided to take the plunge.

The transition from vendor to owner gave Lisa a unique perspective on what makes a marketplace work for both customers and the people operating the individual booths.

Many of the vendors who were there when Lisa and her husband purchased the shop are still there today. Some have been part of The Market for five years or more.

“It does,” Lisa said when asked whether the vendor community feels like a group of co-owners. “I have wonderful vendors.”

That community is part of what makes The Market different from a traditional retail store. Vendors include retirees and working professionals: nurses, teachers, professors, artists, office workers and carpenters. For some, selling is a hobby. For others, it provides extra income. For all of them, Lisa says, there is a shared love of picking, collecting, repurposing and creating.

Each booth becomes its own little shop within the larger store, giving shoppers dozens of distinct personalities and collections to explore.

And there is always something new to discover.

THE THRILL OF THE HUNT

Inventory changes daily. Most vendors stop in at least weekly to add new items, rearrange their displays or mark items down, and Lisa estimates that three or four vendors bring in new merchandise on an average day.

That constant change is one reason regular customers keep coming back.

“Many customers say that they just enjoy the treasure hunt and they will know it when they see it,” Lisa said.

One day, that treasure might be a vintage holiday decoration. Another day, it could be a piece of jewelry, a unique gift or an antique that brings back a childhood memory.

The Market has even seen some unusual pieces. One memorable item was a 1950s shoe-fitting fluoroscope, a device that used live X-rays to let customers see the bones in their feet inside their shoes. Lisa wasn’t sure anyone would want the large piece, but someone did.

For Lisa, some of the most meaningful finds are connected to personal history.

She recently parted with one of two 1940s Bessie Pease Gutmann prints that once belonged to her mother. The prints had hung in her mother’s childhood bedroom, and Lisa kept them for 20 years after finding them in her mother’s cedar chest. The other remains in The Market’s front window.

Those kinds of stories are part of what makes vintage shopping different from simply clicking “add to cart.”

A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE KNOW YOUR NAME

The Market’s customers are just as diverse as its merchandise.

While the typical shopper is older than 40, Lisa has been excited to see more people in their 20s and 30s discovering the shop. She hopes younger shoppers will continue to develop an appreciation for the durability, character and history of vintage items.

Customers come looking for antiques, gifts, home décor and nostalgic pieces. Some are regulars who head straight to a favorite vendor’s booth. Others are simply curious about what they might find.

And some become part of The Market’s extended family.

Lisa describes the business as a little like a neighborhood bar, “but of course we don’t have any alcohol.”

The comparison makes sense. Vendors and staff know regular customers by name, ask about their families and hear their stories. One older man who lives nearby walks to The Market nearly every day. When he doesn’t show up, the staff checks to make sure he is OK. Vendors have brought him meals, helped with errands and given him rides home when the weather is bad.

“We are his home away from home,” Lisa said.

That sense of community extends to families, too. Lisa loves seeing two, three or even four generations shopping together, laughing and pointing out items that remind them of someone they know.

“Oh, look at this. Oh, remember, Grandma had one of these.”

Those moments, she says, are some of the best.

SHOPPING LOCAL, GIVING BACK

For Lisa, supporting local businesses is personal.

She recognizes the convenience of online shopping, but she also understands what can be lost when shoppers stop visiting locally owned businesses.

“There is a connection, relationship, interaction with shopping small locally that you can’t get elsewhere,” she said.

The Market also creates opportunities for more than 40 individual vendors to operate their own small businesses, while Lisa and her vendors regularly find ways to give back to the community.

The shop holds three annual events: Spring Fling, Karl’s Birthday and a Holiday Open House, which coincides with Small Business Saturday. The Holiday Open House features storewide discounts, refreshments, giveaways, prizes and even an Elf on the Shelf scavenger hunt.

The Market has also made charitable giving part of its ongoing business model. Each month, the shop donates 10% of sales to a different nonprofit organization, building on its longstanding support of animal-related causes, including Helping Hands Humane Society.

After all, Lisa says, wherever you live, you want to support the community around you.