We recently connected with Perri Salka and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Perri thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?
I was only in business for 9 months when Covid shut the world down. Prior to Covid, I was primarily making revenue for my gift shop business by renting a table at makers markets on the weekends. In March 2020, these types of opportunities were no longer available. Pre-Covid, I had thought I would spend weekends selling my inventory at fairs for the next few years and slowly build my dream business, as I juggled my day job responsibilities during the week. But when Covid hit, I was furloughed and suddenly found myself with a lot of downtime and free time to spend thinking about how I wanted to grow my business. I knew I had to pivot (since in-person selling opportunities were no longer available) and immediately took steps to photograph my existing inventory and build an online presence. This task took about a month to complete and before long, I had built and launched my first online shop and started spending more intentional time growing my Instagram following. I truly had no idea what I was doing, but I took things one day at a time and hoped that the pandemic wouldn’t last too long. But we all know that wasn’t the case…fast forward to December 2020…a friend approached me with an opportunity to host a month long pop-up in a space she had rented in Brooklyn pre-pandemic. I jumped on this opportunity and was so excited to finally connect with the community again in-person (albeit through a mask!) and help my friend make a bit of money to keep the space. Our pop-up was so successful that we continued to run a shared storefront together for a year and a half. This endeavor allowed me to realize that I was capable of running my own storefront so I started looking for space. In May 2022, I signed a 5 year commercial lease on the perfect little storefront in North Brooklyn. Today, I continue to run a successful gift shop from this location, supporting nearly 200 local makers and independent brands by selling their goods on consignment. Covid was devastating for so many, but for me it had a lot of silver linings that propelled my business forward in ways I could have never imagined in 2019.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
The WonderMart is the physical expression of the things I love most in this world and truly my passion project in this lifetime. Having been a part of the arts community in New York for nearly 20 years, I find great joy in introducing others to the immense talent living right under our noses.
I believe in surrounding yourself with beautiful things that have a story to tell. When you visit my shop you’ll discover a unique and highly curated collection of locally crafted goods for the home and body. Many items are one-of-one. I revel in the opportunity to share background knowledge of a particular item or its maker. There’s even a map on the shops’ back wall that showcases where each maker is located across New York State. The WonderMart is truly a celebration of all things handmade and with a fair amount of certainty I can say that there is no other shop like mine in NYC.
Shoppers can visit us in person at our Greenpoint, Brooklyn location – open Wednesday through Sunday (12-7pm) or shop online at www.thewondermart.shop.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I first launched my business, I was terrified of posting on Instagram. I felt like every – single – word – mattered. I had to get it just right. Looking back on it, I was definitely stuck in a perfectionist mindset which really narrowed my brand vision and capacity to grow in the early stages.
The WonderMart has been in business for nearly 5 years and just this month we hit 4k followers on Instagram (the primary social media channel I use to promote my shop). I, of course, was ecstatic!! I really get a lot of motivation from seeing my followers engage with my content, but I can’t say that I LOVE being beholden to social media to boost my brand presence. It’s a lot of work and as a one-woman-show, it’s just one of MANY parts of running a business that takes a ton of effort, creativity and foresight.
My best advice is — don’t get caught up in making the perfect post or the perfect reel. Just let things flow. Don’t be afraid to change up the vibe, change your profile name, change your bio…the truth is, none of it will EVER be perfect, no matter how hard you try. Maybe one day, one of your posts will go viral (we all hope for that day!)… but maybe it will take years, like it did for me, to grow a meaningful and engaged following. I have also learned that whether you have 100 or 100k followers, the numbers don’t really matter. What matters is how *engaged* your audience is with the content you put out there and what affect that has on your overall business goals. 100 tried and true followers can end up being way more lucrative for your business than a 100k random followers that liked one post and never pay attention again.
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
Aside from the revenue my business receives from in-person sales at my brick-and-mortar gift shop (open 5 days a week), I also can make sales through my online shop and via Instagram. In the Summer of 2023, I decided to start offering local handmade brands the opportunity to pop-up in front of my shop by paying a $100 fee to rent the space for the day. I also started curating and hosting my own off-site makers market events at locations across NYC and Brooklyn, charging a $150 table fee for local brands to participate in the event. These two additional revenue streams have helped me cover a portion of my shop rent during slower months and has gone towards some unexpected repairs/overhead expenses throughout the year. I am continuing to offer these events in 2024 and am excited to see how these revenue streams continue to grow and positively impact my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thewondermart.shop
- Instagram: @shop_thewondermart
- Facebook: @thewondermart
- Linkedin: @thewondermart
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-wondermart-brooklyn
- Other: Follow @thewondermarketnyc on Instagram to stay informed about our upcoming makers market events.
Image Credits
All images provided by The WonderMart.