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Sweet Baton Rouge Local Pop Up Shop

Shop Small, Shop Here, Shop Local

by

Melissa Mcinnis

Lagniappe. Community. Evolving. Family. The Best Food. Home. LOCAL. Ask Capital City residents to generate a worthy synonym for their Sweet Baton Rouge and write it on a chalkboard—you’ll get a range of answers. But that a common thread runs through is evident. Passion perhaps? Connectivity? I’d venture to call it energy, vibrating through the streets of the city and the ideas of its people, particularly these days.

Wandering into the inaugural Sweet Baton Rouge Local Pop Up Shop on Perkins Rowe this week, one can feel that energy—distinct and tangible in a room filled wall-to-wall with Louisiana small businesses. There’s homemade vegan nail polish from Native Polish, Louisiana Sunshine Soap Co.’s white chocolate milk bath, and gift boxes Grinning Jupiter Jammery preserves. You can get handcrafted jewelry from Eveillie Jewelry, Shibori & Co., Annie Claire Designs, Hands Producing Hope, and more! Not to mention Christmas-themed everything: dog collars, candles, soaps, and even succulent arrangements. The vibes of creativity and innovation and good old fashioned I-want-thats are only heightened by the vibrant gallery-esque display adorning almost every inch of the walls, featuring local artists like Chad Schoonmaker, Sharon F. Bailey, Courtney Miley, and a mural by Marc Fresh Art. For their soft opening on Tuesday, December 4, they even brought in Baton Rouge pastry extraordinaire Cupcake Allie for complimentary treats.

In recent years, Baton Rouge, like other cities across the country, has seen a definitive shift inward—a rise of local businesses in the collective consciousness, if not (yet) total economic prowess. It seems we learn of a new restaurant concept or shop rising up—particularly in the rapidly developing Mid City area—every few weeks. Perkins Rowe itself, however, has long been the realm of national big name retailers like Barnes & Noble, Anthropologie, and J. Crew, along with restaurants like Texas de Brazil and California Pizza Kitchen, the Cinemark Movie Theatre, and luxury condominiums. The mixed-use community announced last spring that it would be undergoing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment aiming to draw in more local concepts and to more directly engage the Baton Rouge community. That so many Louisiana small businesses gathered together on the Rowe this week shows quite some promise for the future, and is an encouraging sign that the celebration of smaller-scale endeavors and artisanship might be celebrated across Baton Rouge beyond the emerging mecca of Government Street.

The Local Pop Up, says Meredith Waguespack, owner of Southern Football Tees and the Sweet Baton Rouge blog, has been in the works for almost four years. “I’m a small business owner and have just been looking at different ways to celebrate and support fellow local businesses, and to bring them to the public, for a long time,” she said on Tuesday night. Waguespack is also the founder of the Lagniappe Box, a service that sends subscribers a curated gift box of locally-made products. As for this new endeavor, “I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out! With all the people who showed up, we are definitely encouraged to do more of these.” 

Sweet Baton Rouge’s Local Pop Up Shop will be open on 10000 Perkins Rowe through Sunday, December 9, and will also feature an Ornament Workshop by BR Succulent Co. on Wednesday, a Mimosa Handcrafted Trunk Show on Thursday, a student discount on Friday, and a community workout with Barre3 on Saturday.

Interested in other ways to support local small businesses this holiday season?

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