Surplus of style Streetwear vendors headed to the Bay for market experience like no other By: Erin Lebar Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/09/2019 (1836 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The fourth floor of the downtown Bay will once again be buzzing with retail activity as Winnipeg’s newest market shopping experience, the Surplus Market, takes over the space Saturday, Sept. 14, for its inaugural run.

The market features local vendors offering vintage streetwear and sportswear, contemporary streetwear, art, music and “rare kicks.” A custom menu (with bites inspired by various street foods) and bar, as well as haircuts courtesy of Saint Barbershop, will also be available.

As an added bonus, this weekend is the Bay’s “Giving Weekend,” and the store has partnered with Surplus Market to offer ticket holders an in-store coupon. The market is also accepting donations of shoes for Winnipeg’s Got Sole and clothing for the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Surplus Market is a collaboration from the three minds behind marketing company Grape Experiential — Anthony and Andrew Sannie (who are also in local hip-hop group the Lytics) and Kyle Goldstine — and a trio of other men who are “in the scene” in various contexts, including Glenn Gaudinez, the man behind Lost N Found, a local vintage resale Instagram account.

The six-man crew combined their passion for fashion and their event-hosting skills to create Surplus Market, an event they hope will speak to an under-represented culture in Winnipeg.

“We wanted to create a place where street culture was the focus — the convergence of all these ideas, whether that’s food, art, music — all in one place and centre it around streetwear resellers.

“Glenn is a reseller; they basically buy streetwear goods that are heavily coveted or rare and then resell them,” Andrew says.

“I think also this is a cultural community that isn’t often served, and it’s huge. There’s a lot of money in it, and people are willing to spend a lot of money, but for some reason, it hasn’t really become a big thing in the city yet, whereas in Toronto or Vancouver or Montreal, they really have a tight-knit community. Ours is small, but it’s growing.”

That community aspect is at the core of Surplus Market. Yes, it’s a place where vendors can sell their goods, but the event has also been designed to serve as a meeting place, a spot where those with like-minded interests can converge, connect in person, physically see and touch items (rather than just looking at images online) and start to build that true customer-client relationship with local resellers.

“I feel like the cool part of it is selling stuff that you don’t usually get the chance to buy every day, especially in a market like Winnipeg,” Anthony says. “We are secluded and we don’t have access to a lot of these bigger streetwear markets or bigger streetwear brands.”

“For us, it’s being able to be a part of something that’s helping people get the items they want because we’ve been in those situations before,” Anthony continues.

“Travelling with the band has led us to some cool cities, but that was pretty much the only time you could go into a store and buy something you’ve been looking at.”

Goldstine adds that the event is intended to create and foster a community where the online world of vintage and resale can be something that’s enjoyed in person.

“This isn’t just an opportunity to go shop — there’s going to be musical performances, really good food, drinks as well,” Goldstine says. “So if you want something to do on Saturday, it’s an awesome event where you can come enjoy, hang out, you might do some shopping or you might just come see what’s going on in the scene.”

Another inspiration for the creation of Surplus Market — which organizers have dubbed the city’s “largest street-culture gathering” — is Winnipeg’s history as an integral part of Canada’s garment and textile industry.

“I think an important thing too is, especially for the younger people that might be coming out, a lot of people don’t know that, aside from finance and grain exchange, Winnipeg was kind of built on the garment, fabric and clothing industry,” Goldstine says. “You walk around the Exchange and there are still remnants of that all over the place… and now you’ve got Mondetta and Canada Goose and all those types of businesses still running.

“So, one thing we’d love, if we can start to build this up and bring some of that history of the garment and fashion industry that used to be in Winnipeg back, it’d be pretty sweet.”

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel

Erin Lebar
Manager of audience engagement for news

Erin Lebar spends her time thinking of, and implementing, ways to improve the interaction and connection between the Free Press newsroom and its readership.

   Read full biography