Small Business Mercado founder aims to uplift vendors

Hundreds of Arlington residents crowded into a parking lot on West Abram Street on Aug. Street on Aug. 22 for the Small Business Mercado, jumping in lines for tacos, pupusas, bunny-shaped cotton candy and more. At a particularly busy booth, Mima’s Aguas Frescas y Mas owner Marisela Garcia’s daughter and grandkids were ladling horchata and agua de jamaica (hibiscus tea) into plastic cups as fast as they could, but the line of customers kept getting longer, wrapping around the entire right side of the market. One of Garcia’s grandkids is Cristian Berumen, founder of the Small Business Mercado. Berumen said that since he began the night markets, the numbers of customers and vendors have continued to grow. The Small Business Mercado is a monthly night market featuring small local businesses from around DFW. Berumen said his goal is to uplift small-business owners and create a community where they can connect and help one another. Berumen said he got the idea for the market about five years ago, from his experience as the owner of a small business, Cristian’s Customs. Watching his mother and other family members motivated him to open up his own shop, Berumen said. But after seeing how the COVID-19 pandemic affected businesses, particularly small ones, he felt he had to step in and help. “I am basically in their shoes. There have been times when the market doesn’t go too good, and it definitely does affect me.” Berumen said. “I know there’s a family, there’s a person behind that vendor booth.” The first market included fewer than 20 vendors, but the community each small business would bring was always there. Berumen eventually moved the market to Vandergriff Park, but changes to vendor permits caused him to jump the market around to different business parking lots, including that of Marquez Bakery. Once Berumen was able to purchase a space for his small business, he began holding the market in his own storefront parking lot. However, the fast-growing interest from vendors and the increase in foot traffic soon meant he needed to find a bigger space. Attendees were struggling to find parking and access the market, and Berumen didn’t want to continue to limit capacity for vendors. He approached the Downtown Arlington organization, which was enthusiastic about hosting the market in the heart of downtown. “They had already known about the markets, and some of them had even visited the markets,” Berumen said. “They were very excited for us to come in and bring our audience.” Since the move, the Small Business Mercado has been drawing an estimated 2,000 people per market, he said, with a high thus far of about 4,000 attendees. Vendors that have been a part of the mercado for years say that foot traffic had never been an issue for the event. Hope Lara, co-owner of Mr. Stache’s Kitchen, said that the Small Business Mercado was their first-ever vendor event two years ago. She and her husband worried about their lack of experience, but Berumen and his team’s level of organization and support made them want to keep coming back, she said. “I mean, he laid out everything for us. He told us where the trash cans were at the end of the night.” Lara said. “He’s been very supportive throughout the whole journey of this.” Another vendor, Z Cortez, owner of So Freshy which sells specialty virgin piña coladas, agreed that the level of support shown by Berumen and the team have kept them coming back to the mercado. He hasn’t seen that at other markets, he said. Cortez said the mercado team makes sure vendors have the supplies and permits they need to succeed for the evening and checks food booths for proper sanitization materials. At the last mercado, Berumen and his team provided sunblock due to the intense heat. For Cortez, these small gestures showed the level of care they had for their vendors. “It really improves the overall quality of the market. I feel like if your vendors are s