WESTCHESTER COUNTY, New York (WABC) — As the busy holiday seasons approaches, one woman is making her mark on small businesses all over the Tri-State area.
Every year, Melissa Panszi Riebe opens up a pop-up called, “Make Your Market,” but it’s so much more than just a place to buy unique and handmade gifts.
It’s a small business supporting other small businesses, where creators have space to show off their goods and grow.
This year, there are 79 different makers inside the Westchester County shop, making everything from candles, to glassware, and even toys.
Melissa Panszi Riebe: When you see your stuff in a store and when you feel that energy, you can’t escape it. And so I love it that they’re part of this community.
Riebe is a jewelry maker turned small business advocate and the force behind this annual tradition.
Riebe: I’m a conductor, and this store is my orchestra. Every maker is my orchestra, and I’m here to make beautiful music for people who walk in.
Riebe: A lot of times people are like, where do you find people? I’m I’m at the market next to them when we start talking to each other. And, again, I try to find the story. He is a artist that actually was in an orphanage when he was younger, and the social worker said you need to paint to kind of deal with your emotions.
Joelle Garguilo: And you get to help someone live out their dreams.
Riebe: Yes.
It’s not just about the products on the shelves… it’s about the people behind them, like Kristin Larkin of 22 Kat Krafts.
Larkin: My product is better because she’s very, very honest about it. I love her as a person and as a creator.
Erwin Ong of Duckamuck: Melissa does a very good job of educating makers and artists and encouraging them to take their work seriously.
Preston Lopez of Crackl Cookies: What Melissa’s doing, she’s giving us a platform to shine, to showcase our talent.
Richard Marshall of Giggle Thump Puppets: She’s a magnet for good, like minded people. When I found Melissa, I found my community.
As for Riebe, the pop up is personal.
Riebe: Growing up as a Latina female, I feel like I needed to see myself in business and, like, doing you know, as inspiration, and that’s where I feel like this place is. Doesn’t matter what age you are. I want you to be inspired by these all these people. I want people to see themselves here, whether it’s by age, by diversity, by whatever, but I want people to feel connected in community.
Garguilo: And represented.
Riebe will tell you representation matters, and so do the details. She carefully curates each display, mixing makers who’ve never met, creating unexpected connections.
Riebe: Here’s a maker. Here’s a maker. Here, so this is three different makers. They’ve never met each other, but their items are together, and it’s just wonderful and there are great stories. And then they meet, and then they become friends, and they’re the different collaborations.
Each fall, Riebe builds this marketplace from the ground up, a new location, a new community, and a new mix of makeup.
Riebe: It’s just, it’s exciting. I know I say magic, and I don’t know how to put it in words because everyone there’s a story behind everyone.
When customers walk through the door, she hopes they feel something special.
Riebe: Love it when people come in and they identify with that story, and they see someone I start saying, like, “oh, that was me or oh, I get this energy feel,” and I’m like, “yes.”
For more information visit: https://www.adzineny.com/
———-
* More Northern Suburbs news
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
Copyright © 2025 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.
