BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A new business, that supports local women, is opening tomorrow in the Market Arcade Building, in Buffalo. The Buffalo Women’s Consortium (BWC) will include goods from 20 vendors who are all local, and all female.
“A friend of mine came in the other day and he was like, ‘I feel like I’m walking into Alice in Wonderland right now,'” Holly Metz Doyle said, the co-founder of the BWC. “And that’s what we want to create, is a space that’s a feast for all the senses.”
The Buffalo Women’s Consortium is owned by best friends (they call each other soul sisters), Holly Metz Doyle, and Jen Stockman. They love re-purposing old furniture and other goods, and wanted to create a space where women could show off their creativity as well.
“We have a tea woman who makes handmade teas,” Metz Doyle said.
“These baskets here are woven from a woman in Rwanda… she’s settled here in Buffalo,” Stockman told News 4.
Some of the women represented in the store have never sold their work, before now.
“Ann Margaret Munley makes beautiful prints from her oil paintings,” Stockman said.
All of the items are created locally, and every product has a story.
There are purses, for example, that come from an organization called, ‘Sew REDI,’ which teaches local refugees how to sew, and more.
“We had a client join us a little over two years ago,” Pat Hutton said, the founder and president of Sew REDI. “She is Burmese. She did not speak English, she did not drive, and she did not sew. Now, she has become one of our finest sewers. She drives and I don’t need a translator when talking to her.”
There are hand and facial products at the store too, that are made by a former real estate agent. That woman ended up buying a farm that she was showing a client, and now makes products from the animals and plants on the farm.
Holly and Jen hope people can buy gifts at the BWC and share those stories. Down the road, they even want to see customers match with vendors for custom-made products.
“Our tagline is ‘passion with purpose,’ so we want to give women a place where they can find their ultimate passion,” Holly said.
The BWC opens Saturday, February 1 at noon. The store will also have a soft opening with some food and drink on Friday, February 7, from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and on Saturday, February 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The BWC can be found in the Market Arcade Building, at 617 Main St. in Buffalo.
If you know of a Woman Leading WNY, send Kelsey Anderson an email at: kelsey.anderson@wivb.com
