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Imagine a town square from a romance novel, cozy shops amid the strums of a guitar and smiles in every direction.
That’s the vibe Michelle Bullock is going for when she brings the Tanque Verde Market to Tucson’s east side from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8.
The Tanque Verde Market made its debut in 2023, a much-needed addition to the east side. Originally hosted at the Forty Niner Club, the market quickly outgrew the space and moved to its current location at Tucson Country Day School, 9239 E. Wrightstown Rd., last year.
“There are so many markets in Tucson, but nothing on the east side where I live, where my kids go to school. We joke that the area we’re at is the island because we’re cut off from everything and you have to leave the island to go to anything,” Michelle says. “I felt like there was a real desire for something like this close to home.”
Her feeling was right. She calls it a symbiotic relationship — the way the Tanque Verde Market makes it accessible for both vendors and east-siders to reach one another.
“Last market, one of the people who was volunteer with me had a group of ladies come up to her and they said, ‘We have something we need to talk to you about.’ They were very serious and it was like, this is not good,” Michelle says. “They were like, ‘You really need to change something, let me tell you what it is.’ And they were like, ‘Don’t change a thing!’ They were so happy. … People feel that need — that we needed something out here.”
This year, 60-plus vendors will bring handcrafted soaps, prints, pottery, treats and so much more to the market space, all alongside food trucks, kid-friendly activities, a bounce house and live music from Eugene Boronow. Tucson Love Letter is also teaming up with Tanque Verde Market to host a food drive to benefit the Community Food Bank.
“I think small businesses are what create community,” Michelle says. “Local businesses and the products they bring and the stories they tell and the people behind them — they’re the soul of the community, they’re the lens on what’s important, what we value, what we care about as a community.”
A Phoenix native, Michelle spent a lot of time at valley markets that emulated a certain neighborhood charm. She’d see her actual neighbors, she’d pass by friends, vendors learned her name.
“When I look at those markets, there were so many connection points between neighbors, between strangers. You’re all kind of working together for a singular purpose — you’re wanting to support local businesses,” Michelle says.
The Tanque Verde Market fills a gap on the east side, but it was also born out of Michelle’s desire for connection, something she started to miss in Tucson, especially following the height of the pandemic.
She wants you to come to the market and stay a while. She wants you to connect. She wants you to support the businesses, she wants you to meet new people. She wants you to build community.
“I know those connections are so valuable. My favorite is when I see people meeting at the market, or inevitably every market, there’s been a group of women who sit somewhere and they’ll be there for hours,” she says. “They’ll be there until it closes and they’ll shop and they’ll have food and they’ll sit and have coffee and just chat with each other. That’s the dream.”
And supporting local businesses is a win for everyone. According to Local First Arizona, $43 of every $100 spent a local business stays in the local economy. If you’re spending $100 at a non-local business, only $13 stays here.
“I hope (vendors) can rest a little easier and have some bills paid. I hope that it’s not only something that’s a good experience for them, but I hope it’s tangibly good — that they feel valued, that they feel like they got a chance to make new customers and develop those relationships,” Michelle says, adding that she strives to provide additional resources for vendors — marketing guidance, for example — so everyone leaves the event feeling good about their business.
When Michelle is the one attending markets around town, she’s always excited to get home and lay out each of her new treasures. She thinks of the person who made each piece of art, the interaction she had and the story behind it.
“Having that memory of the experience … I hope that’s something shoppers can take with them,” she says. “I hope that shoppers leave feeling like, ‘I can’t wait for the next one.’ We really hope people will use the market to shop for their Thanksgiving table or to think about gifts for the holidays. If you go, you could write a lot of things off your list and support local businesses at the same time.”
🛍 The Tanque Verde Market takes place 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 at Tucson Country Day School, 9239 E. Wrightstown Rd. For more information, visit the market’s website or Instagram. 🛍
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