Myriad Garden Pop-Up Shops Try To Recover Sales After Ice Storms

After being closed due to the winter weather last weekend, shop owners at the Myriad Gardens Winter Shoppes were hoping Saturday that dreary weather wouldn’t lead to even drearier sales this holiday season.

For the past few years, the shops have been drawing larger and larger crowds. Each year, customers crammed into “pop-up shops” not bigger than the average cubicle.

“I haven't had to run my heater at all, but … it's tight,” said Maggie Ballard who set up her shop Live Boho for the first time this year.

“It's kind of like my little home away from home. I've got my music and my laptop so when it's slow i can do some work,” Laura Nance said.

Nance runs the Stella and Dot jewelry shop at the gardens.

After ice and snow forced many shop owners to close on last week's small business Saturday, they're hoping for a rebound during a season that can make or break their year.

“We just tried to make the best of it. We kind of shopped from each other, the vendors were checking out everyone else's booths. But it is what it is we don't have any control over the weather,” Nance said.

Most of the stores have online sales, but several shop owners said the online storefronts don't always replace seeing their items up close. They're hoping that Oklahomans will help turn things around for local businesses on what's been dubbed a small business holiday re-do. 

“It was a little tough but people have been coming out in droves , so it's been really nice. The weather is nice this weekend and next weekend so we're expecting all of the flow from last weekend to come into this and next weekend,” Ballard said.

The Winter Shoppes are open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 20.