Christmas Village & Philadelphia Market offer shoppers a local option on Thanksgiving

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- On a day when most big-box stores and malls are closed, the vendors who occupy the Philadelphia Market and Christmas Village are open and welcoming customers.

Until 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, the small businesses that have set up shop in Center City are staying open for business.

"It's beautiful," Moira Keller, from Ambler, said. "Supporting the city and being apart of what we love about Philadelphia and all the small businesses."

Brandon David Brown, owner of Brandon David Brown Jewelry, is celebrating his second year at the holiday market.

"It's been pretty cool. You have a lot of people from the parade come over, and then everyone from the hotels," he said. "Everyone is in town for Thanksgiving, so everyone is with their family usually, but then they all start to come out before dinner."

Vendors tell Action News the pop-up Christmas shops offer Philadelphians an easy way to support local businesses throughout the holiday season, especially on Thanksgiving Day.

"Small business is where it's at," Mackie, who works for Good Boy Biscuits & Bones, said. "Anyone can go to a box store and buy the same thing. Come to a small business, get something new, something different, something unique."

Altarik Banks, the owner of Homa Studios in Newark, New Jersey, is selling his pottery at the market for the first time this year.

"As a craft business, these holiday markets really matter," he told Action News. "I think what's really cool is we give people something special that they can't find elsewhere to give to their loved ones."

Brad Keller and his family stopped by on Thursday morning. Every Thanksgiving, he and his family make the short trip from Ambler to Philadelphia.

"We stayed overnight at the hotel. We brought them down to watch the parade, and we're just wandering around now," he said.

Keller's daughter, Maeve, said her favorite part of Thanksgiving is, "coming here and spending time with my family."

Pamela Carr, from Bridgeton, NJ, spent the morning at the Philadelphia market.

Carr said it is her family's "annual Thanksgiving tradition" to spending the holiday shopping and supporting small businesses.

"This is awesome. There's so many good things out here. It's very cool," she said.

Before people sat down for their meals on Thursday, Action News caught up with some shoppers grabbing last-minute items at the grocery store.

"Some last-minute bread. We ran out of plates, of course, so I grabbed some of those," Michael Kencht, of Fairmount, said. "And, you can never have enough tin foil, so that is what I snagged."

Kencht is hosting Thanksgiving at his home this year. "It's great way to have everybody home in one place and catch up on what's going on," he said.