A: The Rust Belt’s pop-up is a vendor space we’ve dedicated to shorter-term stays—allowing approved applicants to schedule one to three weekends per ‘booking invitation.’ We love featuring rotating vendors because it adds to the overall visitor experience and helps introduce new artists and companies to the market rotation.

A: You should consider popping up with us if:

1. You want to get your name and products in front of discerning patrons as a way to collect feedback, generate some revenue, and share information about upcoming shows, retail locations, and online channels, {and/or}

2. You’re contemplating joining The Rust Belt community as a long-term vendor.

Currently, we do not have any contract-term vacancies but typically screen for mainstay vendors using our pop-up shop.

A: Yes. In an effort to be fully transparent with vendors and set realistic expectations, we don’t think popping up with us would be a good fit if:

1. You’re doing it as a way to secure a spot in our annual holiday market.

2. You expect to make a lot of money in a short period of time.

The Rust Belt Market is not a street fair. We are a brick and mortar marketplace with many shops under one roof. We focus on longevity. Because of our long-term vision, we’ve incubated many small start-ups and have continued to attract more and more quality visitors for over a decade. We are the anchor retailer of downtown Ferndale. With that said, *we do not typically* have the fervent draw of a street fair or one-off event, and we make no apologies for it.

*Festival and show weekends will be noted on booking sign-ups, and the rates will reflect the anticipated increase in foot traffic.

A: Pop-up vendors are required to be present for all public market hours. You can be there yourself or entrust a representative, but the shop must be staffed from open to close.

Don’t be late! Our mainstay vendors are given a 10 minute grace period and are fined for showing up late, leaving early, or remaining closed all day. We do not collect attendance fines from pop-up vendors, but we don’t like doing business with those who don’t prioritize showing up on time. It’s not our responsibility to secure your property during public market hours, and empty shops understandably create negative customer experiences.

A: Yes. However, who we decide to invite throughout the year is 100% at our discretion. Don’t take this personally—we’re making these decisions strictly based on what we think is best for our multifaceted market and its patrons. It’s just business.

If you are an approved applicant but unable to book anything because a sign-up fills quickly, you’ll likely be included in the following invite.

A: We have a no refund policy. If you have to cancel for any reason, including a health emergency or any nightmarish ordeal involving pets, kids, grandparents, significant others, vehicles, house fires, floods, windy snow, sunburn from working on the family farm (yes, we’ve heard it all) supply-chain disruptions, etc etc., you are not entitled to a refund. If we’ve been given advance notice and are feeling generous, we may spend our limited time and energy trying to rebook the dates. IF and only IF we find a replacement vendor, you might receive a refund—all dependent upon the relet rate. We care about having a full house, so sometimes we discount or donate the space to a vendor if someone cancels at the last minute. Do not assume we’ve successfully collected money if the space has been filled.

If we have to cancel on you, we will issue you a refund.

A: Yes. However, if you intend to accept custom orders from customers, it is imperative that you deliver on promised timelines and allow people to contact you directly.

2024 HOLIDAY BOOKING SUMMARY

The most wonderful time of the year! In an ideal world, every holiday vendor will have booked a pop-up stay with us. But in reality, there are too many people and not enough pop-up slots and holiday spaces to fairly implement such a requirement. We’ve considered it, and it just won’t work. Therefore, we are officially uncoupling pop-up booking and holiday booking.

For this year’s holiday market—which takes place in our middle event space December 13th through 24th—we will open applications on our website and host a public call for vendors late summer through late September. We will then send notices of determination to all applicants sometime mid October. We don’t yet have exact dates set, but we intentionally wait until after DIY StreetFair/Funky Ferndale festivals to finalize the holiday-market roster. If this timing doesn’t work for you, we understand and don’t want you to pass up other show opportunities because of us. This timing has worked best for our goals and rhythm, and although we plan to open applications sooner this year, the final decisions won’t be made until fall, as usual.

We’ll post additional details to this page prior to opening applications.