However, with more spare time on their hands, she said many of these customers picked up hobbies such as pottery and woodworking, prompting Christina to begin trading her products for their handmade goods.
“I noticed an incredible amount of talent in Kingwood, and I was like, ‘We need to do a good market [to showcase this talent],’” she said.
With a marketing degree and five years of experience working in markets under her belt, Christina and her husband, Brad Terry, held their first artisan market in an open field on Hamblen Road in October 2020.
“All of my vendors sold out; it was amazing,” Christina said.
After realizing the demand was there, Terry said The Crunchy Cactus took a backseat, and her new business venture soon had a name and a headquarters: Texas Artisan Markets based out of Megaton Brewery.
Over the past year, Texas Artisan Markets has grown to regularly host events at three breweries in the Greater Houston area as well as five locations in Austin. The business now has a rotating list of more than 450 local vendors in the Greater Houston area and nearly 100 in Austin.
“We’re all about trying to empower the local community to purchase [from] small businesses,” Christina said. “It may be $15-$20 more expensive, but you’re actually meeting that artisan face to face and hearing the story of how they made that exact piece you’re taking home.”
Texas Artisan Markets vendors sell everything from high-end jewelry and leather pieces to pottery and artisan chocolate. Christina noted she does not allow any resale or multilevel marketing businesses in her markets, and her events typically sell out months in advance.
“It’s a very highly vetted market just because there is a specific quality standard that we continue to reach, and we don’t want to back down on that,” Christina said.
While Texas Artisan Markets hosted bimonthly markets in 2021, Christina said she and Brad will begin hosting monthly minimarkets at Megaton Brewing in 2022 with larger markets hosted on a quarterly basis. Additionally, the couple plans to expand to Dallas and San Antonio in 2023 and 2024.
As with every existing market, Christina said each of the upcoming markets will be family and dog friendly; be free to attend; and have live music, food and beer.
“This is somewhere for the community to come together to learn about each other and not only showcase their products, but also who they are,” she said.
Coming Up
Dec. 4-5: Holiday Artisan Market
Texas Artisan Markets will host a two-day holiday market featuring 120-150 vendors spanning Megaton Brewery, the adjacent CrossWay Community Church parking lot and its Nathaniel Center. The event will include activities such as a rock wall, bounce house, axe throwing and professional photos with Santa Claus, as well as a variety of food trucks and vendors, live entertainment and local brews. Noon-5 p.m. Free.
Texas Artisan Markets
346-600-5166
www.texasartisanmarkets.com
Greater Houston-area market locations
Based in Kingwood, Texas Artisan Markets regularly holds events at the following Greater Houston-area breweries.
Megaton Brewery
808 Russell Palmer Road, Kingwood
B-52 Brewing Co.
12470 Milroy Lane, Conroe
Spindletap Brewery
10622 Hirsch Road, Houston
