Vibrant vendors

The Syracuse house show scene welcomes vendors, music enthusiasts and a vibrant community to enjoy live performances

By Cassandra Roshu asst. photo editor

On show nights at The Harrington, the typical loud and electric energy fills the air as people dance and sing to the live music. But on the floor above, the environment is different. Past the herds of people and bathroom lines sits a room full of vendors, art enthusiasts and unexpectedly interesting conversation.

The Pits Vintage, run by Paul Sausville and his girlfriend Hailey Ballard, is one of these vendors. Sausville started the business during the winter of 2017 after his dad started pressuring him to clean out the clothes that he had been collecting since middle school. Though Sausville’s business fizzled out when he got to college, he restarted it halfway through his sophomore year with Ballard when they noticed vintage clothing was popular with students their age.

Since then, Sausville said that selling at shows has been a large factor of his success. Sausville was introduced to The Harrington when he ran into Sam Stehle — the venue’s co-founder — in an ESF building and complimented his shirt. Sausville then started a pop-up in The Harrington, which soon became a staple attraction

“I think music brings really good people together and really interesting people together,” Sausville said. “This whole thing with my business and it being so intertwined with the music scene, I just couldn’t be happier because it’s something that I’ve always wanted to be involved with.”

The relationship between The Harrington and its vendors is a mutually beneficial one, Stehle said. The relationships that they have developed with the people who sell in their house has led to a partnership that is more centered around boosting the vendors, rather than having their space filled.

The Harrington also welcomes artists who want to share their work and concert photographers who want to get better at their craft. At the “Valentines at The Harrington” show, Sausville invited a friend, Nicole Byrnes, to share his table to sell her crochet pieces.

Redgate, another house show venue, viewed The Harrington as their model when they implemented their own business strategies. Like The Harrington, Redgate’s biggest priority is to utilize its space as efficiently as possible. But it’s started to limit vendors to make room for more guests.

“We are more prioritizing getting as many (guests) in and not turning away any people at from the studio