Eastside Market: Locals Helping Locals
Developing a personal connection to Waco inspired the Eastside Market. Its purpose is to create meaningful relationships between community members.
Entrepreneurs Eric Linares and Andreas Zaloumis celebrated the vendor market’s one-year anniversary after they saw it grow legs just last fall. The market operates in partnership with Brotherwell Brewery, where it is held every third Sunday of the month on the east side of Waco.
After graduating from Baylor with an entrepreneurship degree, the community and its stories kept Linares from leaving the college town.
He first got a full-time job at Sherwin Williams but around the same time noticed a buzz in the city, as more construction and development sprung up. When he connected the dots, Linares knew something was happening in Waco, and it was time to take advantage of its potential.
“I thought it was time to grow and do something, so I got out of there and started doing my food concepts, photography for small businesses, and social media management,” Linares said.
Exposed to a network of small businesses and those with similar interests, Linares met market co-founder, Zaloumis, and made the business partnership with Brotherwell Brewery. The market is hosted outside of Brotherwell now.
It is fitting that these community connections were at the heart of it all for Eastside Market, which Linares said supports the local artist community and exposes the east side community to patrons.
“The market is a really cool spot for everyone to come and enjoy local artisan vendors, food and music,” he said. “We wanted to create a community space to be inclusive and open to everyone. People can really experience a side of Waco they hadn’t before because there are so many parts of Waco and different communities.”
Though they first got the idea from the vendor markets in bigger cities like Dallas and Austin, the most important part is that there is a use for Eastside in Waco, Linares said.
“It definitely could be done here because it may not be the size of all these other locations, but we still have the artist communities - people who want to do things that are bigger than you,” he said. “I thought there was no reason why we can't create something like that - a community space to enjoy the day at.”
One vendor has recently inspired Linares with her capability to use what the market has to offer.
“She started off with a little five-foot table and brought out maybe 50 earrings that she made and killed it,” Linares said. “So she has been coming back and growing along steadily. That's the story I like seeing. I love seeing when people find a passion and are able to create something out of it.”
After hearing Linares talk in one of her business classes, Ellie Meinershagen of Acute Accents reached out to him about how to get involved in Eastside. She has been selling her handmade clay earrings every third Sunday of the month since then. She is a strong proponent herself for boosting the work of other artists.
“My best friend is an artist. She designed my business cards and made up the logo, because all the earrings are based on one of my friends,” she said. “So I would love to sell more art or incorporate different artists' work, maybe have my own space one day.”
Meinershagen pointed out another artist at the market who helped elevate her business when she shared a booth with Acute Accents at the handmade farmer’s market. Now, Meinershagen has returned the favor and shared her own space at Eastside with her roommate’s business.
“That is the spirit of the market: to create a community space where we support each other and build each other up,” Linares said.
The earring designer embraced the intention for the community space - that patrons and vendors would make connections - and ran with it.
“It’s been great to be a part of Eastside because I’ve gotten to connect more with local Waco,” Meinershagen said. “Especially as a Baylor student from Dallas, I didn't know much of Waco. This has introduced me to a lot of really cool artists and other small business owners in the area.”
Meinershagen is making those connections the market hoped to promote to further encourage the community presence.
“Waco is one of those cities where you have to expand your network and make connections through previous relationships,” Linares said. “They really build the city up because you’re able to leverage what everyone else is doing and at the same time create your own thing.”
Written by: Vivian Roach
Photos by: Carissa Setiawan
Edited by: Josie Gruber