The Open Market is here to offer simple local shopping to help build a stronger and more connected West Slope!
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Stick around. The Open Market is full of West Slope makers, farmers, artists, and small businesses worth knowing.
The Open Market is a useful discovery tool to help build connections with your neighbors through local shopping!
Whether it's a direct sale on this website, or a direct link to the Seller, every listing makes it easy to shop local and invest in the West Slope!
Stay up to date on West Slope shopping!
Stay up to date on West Slope shopping!
Modern ecommerce with the heart of a farmer’s market.
Reach out any time: hello@theopenmarket.co
You know that feeling when you need a gift, a service, or something special – and you want it to be local, but you’re stuck scrolling Instagram for an hour, Googling in circles, or hoping you’ll stumble across the right person at a farmer’s market?
It shouldn’t be that hard.
The West Slope is full of incredible makers, growers, artists, and small businesses. They’re here. They’re talented. But unless you already know them, good luck finding them.
That’s the problem we solved.
We’ve gathered 200+ West Slope creators in one searchable place. No more hunting. No more relying on the algorithm or luck. Just browse, find what you need, and connect, whether that’s buying online, reaching out directly, or meeting them at one of our festivals.
Every time you shop with us, two things happen:
It’s that simple. Find local. Support local. Repeat.
Your community is full of people making extraordinary things. Handmade jewelry. Farm-fresh food. One-of-a-kind art. They’re out there, but it’s not always so easy to find them in the noise of social media algorithms, targeted ads, AI slop content, and it’s no wonder it feels like gambling.
You want to support local. You know it matters. But it’s hard. Too many dead ends. Too much scrolling. Too much luck. Too many miles driven for a gamble. Too little time.
So we built something different.
The Open Market is exactly what it sounds like: it’s open.
This isn’t about us. It’s about you.
When you buy from a neighbor, you’re not just getting a product. You’re creating a job. You’re keeping money in your community. You’re making it possible for someone to keep doing the work they love.
And here’s the thing: abundant communities create abundant lives.
When local businesses thrive, everyone benefits. More jobs. More connection. More options. A stronger safety net when things get hard. A place that feels like home.
This isn’t idealism. It’s economics. It’s history. It’s how humans have always thrived: we take care of each other.
Abundance can be planted.
Permaculturists turn deserts into food forests.
Community gardens transform neglected lots into gathering places.
One person, planting one tree, has the potential to become a forest decades later.
This is no different. Every purchase you make here is a seed. Every maker you support is already doing their part for the community. Local shopping strengthens the community’s roots.
We might be a little crazy, but we are not naive. Building a thriving local economy takes consistent work. It takes time, money, patience, and belief. But it’s possible. We’ve seen it happen. We’re watching it happen here.
Where we stand:
The Open Market is apolitical. We don’t care about your politics, demographics, or ideology.
But we’re deeply biased toward one thing: keeping all of our neighbors whole, abundant, thriving, free, and connected for generations to come.
Think of it like a lazy stroll through a summer morning farmers’ market; except it’s just as accessible as shopping on Etsy or Craigslist.
Here’s how it works:
1. Browse
Search by keyword, filter by what you need, or just wander and see what catches your eye. Every listing shows you who’s making it, where they’re based, and how to connect.
2. Connect
Some Sellers let you buy instantly online. Others prefer you reach out directly via phone, email, or Instagram. Some Sellers are set up to only sell on other websites. We support whatever works best for you.
3. Shop local
Whether you’re buying a handmade gift, booking a service, or discovering a new favorite farm, every purchase keeps money in the West Slope and helps your neighbors make a living.
That’s it. Find what you need. Connect with the Seller. Done.
For shoppers: Nothing. Ever. Shopping here is always free.
For Sellers: No listing fees (yet). If you sell through the site, we take 10%. Click here to learn more!
Check out our FAQ or reach out anytime: hello@theopenmarket.co
March, 2020.
Local businesses were forced to close their doors while big-box stores stayed open and were hitting record profits. Makers, farmers, and small businesses, those who’d been serving this community for decades, were scrambling to survive on social media posts and government relief checks.
I didn’t like that.
The Open Market started as a Facebook group in April of 2020. It was an attempt to keep local businesses connected during lockdowns. It kind of worked for a while. The algorithm buries posts, it requires endless scrolling, and searching rarely helps. Regardless, it did give me enough of a positive reinforcement to learn how to build a website.
So, I did. I learned how to build a website from scratch. A real directory where people could actually find and discover what they were looking for. Where makers could control how they wanted to sell. Where shoppers didn’t have to gamble on stumbling across the right person at the right time while scrolling through targeted ads and social media’s sea of distraction.
We launched at the end of 2023. Got our first seller the same day.
Since then, we’ve grown to 200+ sellers, hosted four festivals, published our first magazine, and connected thousands of shoppers with West Slope makers they never knew existed.
Hey neighbor,
Just like any community, the Open Market only works if people like you keep showing up, shopping local, spreading the word, investing in the community, growing together depite differences, and contributing your own work. Like any good neighbor would.
Thanks for showing up.
Jon Hutson
