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Open-air markets a holiday marathon for artists, retailers

Open-air markets a holiday marathon for artists, retailers | iNFOnews.ca
In this Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017, photo, shoppers pass through an archway into the Union Square Holiday Market in New York. At the holiday markets that pop up annually, many of the booths are staffed by artisans hoping to make a significant portion of their revenue or to get visibility that will translate into sales other times of the year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK – Every holiday season, painters, jewelry makers and other artisans spend weeks out in the cold — literally.

They sell their creations at open-air markets, with many hoping to make the bulk of their annual sales from the thousands of shoppers who stream by.

At the market in New York’s Union Square, amid more than 200 booths, jewelry maker Julie Siegmund expects to make 80 per cent of her income this season.

She’s at the market every day, through rain, snow and single-digit wind chills. Siegmund calls the market “a 38-day adrenaline rush.”

Another vendor, jewelry and leather goods seller Tania Carol-Lugones says customers are sympathetic, even offering to buy her coffee.

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Abbey Westbury

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