evident, so she decided to do it again the following year. “I wanted it to get bigger and better,” says Fleetwood, who asked her sister-in-law, Katie, and good friend, Brin, to work with her.
SHOP ’TIL YOU DROP
THE INDY MOMMY MARKET OFFERS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided
birth to baby number two, Fleetwood put on her first Indy Mommy Market.
When Rebekah Fleetwood’s oldest daughter was a baby, she felt inspired to start her own Etsy shop. She sold her creations at local craft fairs and markets where she befriended lots of different shop owners.
“I figured I’d start small and just include 10 or 15 shops,” Fleetwood says.
“We created this little community, and one day I got this idea in my head to start my own craft fair, but I wanted it to be geared towards kid and baby stuff,” says Fleetwood, a Westfield native who knows how much residents like to shop local.
“I was blown away,” she says.
In the spring of 2016, a month after giving
When she began accepting vendor applications, more than 100 people applied.
Ultimately, she whittled it down to 30 trendy shops and held the event in a church gymnasium. Once again, she underestimated the popularity of her idea when she anticipated 100 to 200 shoppers, and 600 showed. Community interest was 8 / NOBLESVILLE MAGAZINE / MAY 2021 / TownePost.com
Now the three women put on the market twice a year, in the fall and spring. One September when all three ladies were due to give birth, they thought it best not to hold the market. Last spring, COVID-19 forced them to cancel, but they are looking forward to holding a socially distanced market on May 22 in the parking lot and large grassy area at Pennington Park Church in Fishers. “Even though the crowds are bigger, it doesn’t feel like it because there’s so much room to spread out,” Fleetwood says. Ironically, the pandemic has made their vendor list grow instead of shrink. While in the past they have averaged roughly 50 vendors, this year Fleetwood invited 75 stores to join. “So many local businesses have suffered this year due to COVID-19, so I wanted to give these shops an opportunity to sell their merchandise,” Fleetwood says.
