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Homemade gifts abound at One Stop Shop

A monthly market in Cochrane will provide holiday shoppers the opportunity to scope out some handcrafted gifts this holiday season.

One Stop Shop – a monthly market that launched in April – will take over the Cochrane Alliance Church Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering attendees a friendly shopping experience with unique gifts for loved ones.

“We’ll have a fair mix of artisans, Multi-Level-Marketing [MLM] direct-sales businesses and small businesses within the community,” said Jennifer West, One Stop Shop’s owner and founder. “We strive to bring a great variety of vendors to the community so they can have that one-stop-shop experience.”

According to West, One Stop Shop began earlier this year, and has been hosted monthly at the church on Saturdays.

“It depends on the month, but typically, [the market is held] around the middle of the month or the end of the month,” she said. “And we run year-round, as well.”

The December market will be One Stop Shop’s biggest event yet, according to West, with more than 40 vendors on-hand to sell their products. She said most of the vendors are local entrepreneurs, though some are coming to Cochrane from Olds, High River and Canmore.

“We have artisans who make jewelry, artists who paint, we have glassware artists, metalworks artists, woodworking artists,” she said. “We also have some vendors who make fresh cooking sauces and spices, as well as vendors who make homemade soaps and bath products.

“We also have MLM and direct sales, so those favourite products we’ve all come to love and are household names.”

While One Stop Shop’s earlier markets saw about 150 to 200 shoppers each, West anticipates the December event will attract more than 300 attendees, based on community response thus far.

“Everyone seems to be really excited for it, and it’s going to be a big crowd,” she said.

She added the atmosphere and character of Cochrane Alliance Church – located at 902 Glenbow Drive – will really add to the festive spirit of the event.

“We’ve got a really beautiful setting,” she said. “The ambiance is really quite nice and we have a lot of decorations for Christmas. It’s a really nice space, so we decided to call it a Christmas market, because everyone likes a market around Christmastime.”

As well as providing attendees a chance to tick some last-minute items off their holiday shopping list, West said, purchasing something from the market will support local entrepreneurs.

“When you buy from a small business, an actual person does a little happy dance,” she said. “When you support small business, you’re helping a little girl get dance lessons, or paying for a little boy’s team jersey, or for mom and dad to put food on the table. Shopping local really gives back to the overall community and gives families a chance at having a good Christmas.”

For more information, find One Stop Shop on Facebook by searching One Stop Shop Marketplace.

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