Marketing agency Fresh Produce is inviting the public to shop small – really small – this holiday season. For the fifth year, the business is hosting Kiosk Thursday in its downtown Sioux Falls office. Fresh Produce’s Ted Heeren and Brian Bieber explain the idea behind this incredibly specific shopping holiday.
How did Kiosk Thursday start?
Ted: It was kind of a silly thing that we thought would be fun, as are most things that start at Fresh Produce.
Brian: You have Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday…
T: So we had a conversation about how kiosks, which are one of our favorite things, weren’t getting any love.
B: We started with a podcast one year where we went to the mall and talked to different kiosk owners.
T: We talked to them about Kiosk Thursday and they hadn’t hear of it.
Because you’d just made it up.
B: Yeah. (laughs) I think that first year, we had a handful of vendors. A couple of them had a really good year. It’s always nice to have people in the space who don’t work here. It brings in fun energy. And since it was worth their time, it seemed like it was worth doing again. It gets a little bit bigger every year. Last year, we incorporated live music.
What will shoppers find this year?
B: This year, we’ll have art for sale, but there’s also a lot of great gift stuff. Abby Bischoff is coming back this year with her Abandoned South Dakota calendars. Marc Wagner brings his zines. Total Drag will have records for sale and they’re going to be playing music. Last year, we had clothing vendors, too.
T: People are bringing art they might not sell in a more traditional setting, so you can find some really cool, unique things.
B: The artists are also selling more affordable pieces. One of my favorite pieces of art in our house I got a couple years ago from Andrew Kosten called “Professor Poopy Pants.” It’s in my office at home, and it was like 40 bucks.
T: Peter Reichardt showed up with a stack of drawings he’d done. He just showed up with a flat file and priced them real cheap. They were original works of art and they were amazing,
but to him, they were just taking up space on a shelf.
Do you have a theme?
T: Kiosk Thursday is pretty much the theme, but we do have Little Debbie snack cakes and free apple cider.
B: It has a little bit of a chaotic feel, and that’s part of the charm. It’s not a slick storefront situation. Even though it’s trusted vendors, when you see a kiosk, these people could pack up and leave overnight. So there’s this added danger, and I think that’s part of the fun.
T: Right. It’s not a traditional shopping experience. You don’t know how to feel about a kiosk. Kiosks, they play by their own rules.
Kiosk Thursday is December 1 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. at Fresh Produce. The vendor deadline is November 15. For more info, visit facebook.com/ipsogallery or follow Fresh Produce on Twitter @pickfresh.
