The sun beamed down on vendors’ tents and visitors at Demure Coffee’s periodic market on Feb. 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Demure Market, held in the courtyard in front of Demure Coffee in Hendrix Village, was a lively event with hundreds of people weaving through the multiple vendor booths.
Highlighting over 60 local vendors, the booths featured vintage clothing, permanent jewelry, handmade stuffed animals, home goods and more.
In one booth for the Northwest Arkansas book business, The Cozy Librarian, owner Emily Walker had hand knit book covers, bookmarks of popular TV show characters and tables full of “blind dates with a book.”
“I’ve always been curious about [blind dates with a book], so I just kind of took it and made it my own,” Walker said.
Being a librarian herself, the idea came from her experience working at bookstores and libraries, after the trend was popularized on social media.
A book is wrapped in paper, leaving it up to a brief description on the front to give a clue to the customer as to what the book is about.
This was Walker’s second time attending the market as a vendor.
“It’s so nice [to be here]. I never thought I would be able to do this as my job.”
With a lot of people stopping by her booth, Walker was able to achieve the goal of her business of “giving people good recommendations and helping people find themselves in a good book.”
The event was an opportunity to connect with fellow community members.
Hendrix college sophomore, Rory McCuien said, “It’s nice to be out…and [to] interact [with people] because I think we’re bad at interacting with people now. It’s a lost art. This [event] is very lovely.”
Originally, the market was scheduled to be held on Valentine’s Day, but was rained out and rescheduled for a sunny day.
Although the date was changed, the market still had a Valentine’s Day vibe to it, with some vendors selling heart-themed clothing and other items.
Since the event was so close to Hendrix campus, McCuein said, “I know a lot of these people, and that is fun, it is nice to go out and talk to them.”
Guests who had come in previous years also got a chance to reconnect with vendors they had bought from before.
“There’s a vendor that sells little pins and I got [some] last time, this time and I’m probably going to get them next time,” McCuien said.
The chatter of the attendees was soundtracked by local DJ The Vinyl Vibe’s 90s music picks, featuring songs like “Love Shack” by The B-52’s and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” By Whitney Houston.
There were multiple food vendors placed throughout the market, with large groups of people waiting in line for Hannah’s Banana’s chocolate covered bananas and strawberries, and Arkansas Breakfast Club selling breakfast foods.
La Pista Pizzeria was also open, serving its signature pizza and salads to those who needed an air-conditioned break from shopping in the heat in the courtyard.
Demure Coffee marked its fifth year of showcasing the event, with February’s market being its first of 2026.
