Positive business and plenty of foot traffic during Middleboro Market Day

MIDDLEBORO — Middleboro merchants enjoyed a special day of business this week. The Middleboro Market Day, organized by the town, spurred foot traffic and put a spotlight on Middleboro businesses, Saturday, Oct. 4.

During the event, downtown businesses placed booths and tables for passersby to explore their offerings throughout the Main Street area. Residents and business owners alike touted the benefits of highlighting town businesses during the day-long event.

Select Board Member Bill Pike made a pitstop at Revibed, a shoe and streetwear shop on Main Street in Middleboro, Saturday. He said the market days are a great way for residents of other towns to see what the Middleboro's business landcape entails.

“It creates a real opportunity to show off Middleboro and our downtown area,” Pike said.

Alecia Preston, who co-owns Revibed with her husband Andrew Fay, said the day brings in plenty of new faces to her shop that sells vintage shoes, “time capsule” esque streetwear and more.

“We get to bring out what's in the store that you might not actually walk in to see — we get to show our flavors,” Preston said. “It’s great to come out and be able to talk to everybody and enjoy the weather. It's not always a beautiful day like today.”

Up the street at Rekindled Home, a home decor and refurbished furniture shop, owner Sandy Cronin said the market days are all about showing people that they don’t need to go far to shop a range of “great” small businesses. 

“I can’t even tell you how many people have come in and signed up for our loyalty program and said they've never seen our shop … It happens every time we do this,” Cronin said.

“[The market day] makes a huge difference for us. The economy's been a little funky. You often kind of hold your breath and think, ‘are we going to be okay?’ Then you have a day like this,” she added.

Carrie Vicino, who owns Powell House Vintage and sells her antique items out of the Middleboro Antique Co-op, said bringing a booth out on Main Street brings in a lot of new foot-traffic as people browse the array of trinkets, decorations and vintage wares she has for sale.

“There's a lot of cool little shops around downtown. It's nice to get people out — especially having something organized for all the shops to do on the same day,” Vicino said.

Emily McBroom, who moved to Middleboro shortly before the Covid pandemic, said she’s seen the downtown area’s businesses grow a lot since she first came to town. She said market days showcase everything the downtown has to offer — and it doesn’t hurt that it can be in walking distance for many residents such as herself.

“When we first moved, there wasn't as much here, but there's so much more now. There's a lot of good community spirit, and it's fun to walk downtown even on a non-market day,” McBroom said.

“It's just nice to have to have a place so close to home that I can go out and have some fun near my house — all without even driving anywhere,” she added.