At DowntownDC’s Holiday Market, vendors drive profit as foot traffic rebounds

Ramunda Young and her husband opened Mahogany Books 18 years ago with a mission: to make Black books accessible everywhere in the United States.

Last year, the owners took that mission to the DowntownDC Holiday Market, organized by the DowntownDC Business Improvement District and The Makers Show, a woman-founded market operator dedicated to promoting equity, sustainability, and small business growth, for the first time. During the month-long event, the book store sold everything from their inventory, and for Young, there was no question they would return this winter. 

“That type of exposure for a small business is unheard of,” Young said. “The market is a tremendous boost for us.”

Before knowing their first year at the market would be a success, Young said they were scared they wouldn’t sell everything or have enough for the entire month. This year is different, she said. 

Over the past year, the business owner spent time budgeting the inventory necessary for the four-week market, in an attempt to not “scurry and try to order something that may take a week to arrive.”

They have gathered data around what was popular, what wasn’t so popular and what customers requested often. Now, Young said, they are ready. 

From Nov. 21 through Dec. 23, Mahogany Books and 114 other vendors, including over 20 first-timers, will take over F. Street NW between 7th and 9th Streets. 

The market is open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. 

Young said many customers who have visited Mahogany Books over the past year have credited the market, adding that she noticed the event’s diversity allows for different cultures and communities to combine and learn more about each other, including Black history. 

“It’s crucial at a time when I feel like so many people’s ideas get isolated,” Young said. “this market, to me, really reflects all the different cultures, all the different values, all the different communities in D.C.”

The Youngs started the online book store in a one-bedroom apartment, hoping to make Black history and stories accessible. But being a business owner doesn’t come without its hurdles. 

Young said many people didn’t believe in their mission, but they decided to mute the “naysayers.” 

The couple commonly heard questions such as “Are people even buying books?” Ramunda’s answer is yes. Mahogany Books’ location at the National Harbor sees 55,000 people a year.

“The proof is in the pudding now,” Young said. “This little Black bookstore is rocking.”

Young said the preparation for the market starts months in advance. 

Applications for vendors interested in participating in the market open between February and March. After that, The Makers Show chooses the 115 vendors who will participate at the market. 

Gerren Price, the CEO of the DowntownDC BID since 2022, said “a mix of different types of vendor options” and ensuring diversity among them are key factors behind the decision making. 

This year, 70% of the market’s vendors will be women, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC and locally owned. 

The market celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024, and Price said it was a reset moment for the event. With a change in the aesthetics, a greater focus on supporting small businesses and the addition of more vendors, the event brings foot traffic to Downtown, an area still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Since 2020, fewer people have visited local businesses and restaurants in the area, Price said. Beyond remnants of the pandemic, he said federal layoffs and the 44-day government shutdown also impacted foot traffic in downtown. 

However, the holiday market helps shift that dynamic. Price said the DowntownDC BID did an economic development analysis after the 2024 Holiday Market and found that for every $1 people spend in the market, they tend to spend $1.50 in activities downtown. 

“It’s important that we’re bringing as many people as we can into the downtown core just to support that broader economic infrastructure,” Price said. “So it’s fun and it’s festive, and it’s all about bringing joy, but it’s also dollars and cents and it helps the baseline of the economy in the city.” 

The market broke a record in 2024, with more than 347,000 visitors in 31 days, according to the CEO. He said he expects even higher numbers this year based on previous success and “positive word of mouth.”

For the small female-owned business Eliana Curated, those numbers make a difference. 

Angelika O’Reilly, owner of Eliana Curated, a jewelry store in Old Town Alexandria, has been a customer at the market from the start. Since opening her business in 2020, one thing was certain: She wanted to have a pop-up in the DowntownDC Holiday Market.

For three years, O’Reilly applied to join the market, with no success. However, things changed in 2024, when the DowntownDC BID partnered with The Makers Show. 

“That was the best thing that ever happened to me,” O’Reilly said. “It was transformative. I can tell you, 30% of our revenue last year came from the DowntownDC Holiday Market.”

O’Reilly was born in Eastern Europe, and when she was 5, her parents made a choice: to move to the U.S. and give their daughter an “American education.” Her interest in entrepreneurship flourished early. 

During her time in middle school and high school, O’Reilly started a “babysitting club” and a driver’s ed school for 16-year-olds. However, she spent 18 years of her adult life in the tech industry before launching Eliana Curated, and she didn’t do it alone. 

The business is a family affair. In 2020, when O’Reilly was pregnant with her first daughter, her parents moved to D.C. to be present for their only daughter and the first granddaughter. But they weren’t ready to retire; they needed a project.  

So, O’Reilly, who wasn’t prepared to leave the tech industry just yet, had an idea in mind: to buy designer brand garments from antique shops, collectors and state sales and “cycle the buttons.” They filled the buttons with 14 karat gold posts and made them into earrings.

O’Reilly said she still remembers the business’s first pop-up in Virginia, when no one bought an item. Her father, who shapes the designs alongside her mother, stayed positive and encouraged O’Reilly to “stay consistent,” she said.

After four years of juggling her job in the tech industry, being a business owner, a wife and a mother of two, O’Reilly said she decided to focus on her business full-time in October of 2024.

“We kept showing up,” O’Reilly said. “Then, we did the DowntownDC Holiday market last year, and it blew up.” 

Since then, the business owner has opened a physical store in Old Town Alexandria, where she said many tourists and locals who stop by credit the holiday market for introducing them to Eliana Curated for the first time. 

For the store’s second year in the event, O’Reilly said customers expect a new line of waterproof jewelry and new vintage designer buttons. But for her, what she looks forward to the most is connecting with new customers.

“What I love about being a woman-run business is getting to meet all of you in person and like having new relationships,” O’Reilly said. “I feel like I have 100 new friends that I make every single month.”