*Caption: Goods sold at the September edition of the I-Heart Market

Written by: Sabelo Mathonsi

Saturday proved another successful day for local businesses in the I Heart Market hosted at the Moses Mabhida Stadium’s Imbizo Lawns.

This event, which is held on the first Saturday of every month, has been showcasing locally manufactured products and designs by small businesses since December 2008.

Anna Savage, the founder and organiser of event, said that they are receiving growing support from small businesses and consumers alike.

“We started at what was called Been Bag in Windermere road with five stores; eight years later we have 150 stores and a whole lot more consumer,” said Savage.

She added that the event is a low risk for small businesses with a potential to yield great returns, even in this unstable economy.

“As a trader you don’t have to pay too much money to be here and we have a captive audience already. It’s not like having to rent a shop, pay your staff and electricity and you still haven’t made any money. Here you only pay R450 and there are great benefits because we have a lot of people coming through,” explained Savage.

Ndumiso Mthimkhulu, a trader from 031 Cocktails, said that the main benefit of the event to small businesses is that they are exposed to different consumers from in and outside of Durban.

“It’s a matter of us getting exposure because people know about the market and it’s very close to the stadium. It’s easy for people even from outside the province to see us when they come to Durban to attend events such as the Vodacom July and the Spring Festival, which is today. We encourage those people to try our brand and come to the restaurant,” said Mthimkhulu.

Laphoele Maduna, a consumer, said they were enlightened by how the market exposed local goods.

“The market sparks interest in consumers and gives us knowledge of the products that are manufactured locally. What is also interesting about the market is that most of the items on sale are unique and hand crafted,” concluded Maduna.