Mercado Craftsdesign

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In working on an article to better understand art markets and specifically Lisbon based art markets as retail opportunities, we were able to join Mariana of Malga Ceramics Design at the Jardim de Estrela Market on Saturday the 5th of April 2025, from 10 am to 15 30 in the afternoon. I sat as at the table that was set up and participated only marginally in the communication with the clients, I did not influence or push for additional sales. Additionally, I took notes on the volume of visitors, the sales, and observational notes on the participants and the logistics of the market itself.

Location

The Market is in Jardim de Estrela (Praça da Estrela, 1200-667 Lisboa) in Lisbon This park is located near the Basilica de Estrela, central in old Lisbon and in between a range of very affluent and up and coming neighborhoods. This park is used for recreation, sports, and as a pathway through the city on a consistent basis throughout the day, all days of the week. The park also has several kiosks and food and beverage options allowing for additional time for the users of the park to stay and linger.

The Market itself occupies both sides of one of the two main pathways through the park causing for most visitors to the park to pass by/through the market. The pathway gives good visibility to each booth and is accessible to all manner of users, including those of limited mobility.

The weather is an important consideration to make based on this location, as this will largely make or break any given market day. The day we were here, it was sunny and bright day between several weeks of rain, which brought out a lot of people. We expect any normal Lisbon sunny day would make this a good day, for attendance. However, if it´s raining, then the market itself will be very difficult. With no built-in resources to provide shelter for vendor or clients, everyone is exposed to the elements. This means rainy days may not even be worth attending, as either vendor or customer. Pay close attention to the weather reports, as even having coverage over your vendor stand won’t necessarily mean the customers will come.

The location gives a wide range of benefits, to the vendor, given the range of use cases people must visit the park on any given day. With the market in the park, in generally sunny Lisbon, it puts a large range of visitors and potential customers within visual range that other markets would struggle to do as this park is a pathway and a destination, where other markets must make more of an effort to draw in clients and customers.

Market Resources and costs

The participation cost of the market for the two days the 5th and 6th were 65€. There is a 50€ option for both days if you are a returning vendor. Single day options are available at the same price as the full weekend. Payment is made before the event by bank transfer.

On market day the resources available are limited. On arrival you can select a stand location based on availability as first come first serve applies and open spots fill as needed. Additionally the first day and second day spots can be different depending on attendance and availability. There are not infrastructural resources included. This did not include any support in setting up. No table, no coverage or awning, no power or electricity. All details of both are to be brought along at the vendor’s needs, and cost. There is no dedicated parking or long-term parking for vendors, so off loading and loading of a vehicle is done at the risk of parking fines and similar. Parking is in the neighborhood, it´s paid for, and not specific to the park. In the weekend parking is free however at the gate of the park it´s not available and done at own risk for off loading and loading.

The cost of the market is in the middle range of market pricing that I have been able to identify while the lack of any physical resource, or infrastructure means the vendor has additional cost in time and money for setting up their booth, tables, and coverings. Parking not being available is also a serious consideration for those with items or products of size or scale.

Marketing and Social Media

The Mercado has a very limited range of marketing to support the vendors, to the best I can tell. There is minimal mention of the market via Instagram on the official Instagram , this consisted of one post on the 1st of April, the week before the event. Stories shared on the day by the official Instagram was not tracked.

There were a couple of small signs placed around the park to tell of the market and where it was. This was additionally only of the market itself.

There was no mention of what vendors would be available at the market that we’ve been able to find. This leaves most of the marketing to the vendors themselves. While the need of marketing might be less important due to the inherent volume of possible customers from the point of the park itself, it does mean that mention of the market, as well as who is there the Mercado does no real effort on. A strange element is the event will take photos of vendors products and post in stories of the market however with no credit to the vendor or referral link to the vendors stores media or contacts.

Clearly marketing and social media for this market is not a priority and not of importance to the event. They seem to rely on the accessability of the venue and leave the vendors to communicate their presence.

Malga Ceramic Design Observations

I sat with Mariana from 10 am to 15 30 on a beautiful sunny Saturday in April. During that time, we saw a very strong consistent passage of people. Malga is a range of handmade ceramics designed and produced in Lisbon by Mariana herself. The designs draw from a range of experiences including key and wonderful products based on her home region of Alentejo.

With a full table, that was kindly provided by a friend who also was at the market. We waited to see and engage our clients.

Engagement

Over the hours we found the following range of people visited our table.

Classification of headers

Views are classified as people who stopped at the table and viewed the products.
Contacts are people that engaged Mariana in questions or giving feedback. This also covers those that asked for social media contacts or cards.
Sales are the volume of individual sales in that hour range.

From the data here we can see that views rise around lunch, and sales are more not specifically linked to more views. However, there is a natural correlation that the more people see your products the more likely you are to engage an interested client.

Feedback from clients and customers was often and positive.

Mercado theme on the day

On this day there were 46 vendors in attendance. This covered a wide range of products, from handmade to fabricated, to vintage items and arts-craft items. The items were generally lifestyle clothing, art pieces or similar. There was only a single food product stand. 2 ceramic stands, and a range of clothing vintage, some vendors sold prints or similar items. There the market was not a specifically Portuguese market, in that items were not specifically curated to be handmade, nor, Portuguese or similar.

Clientele observations

We noticed a trend in the customers that we saw pass through the market, as well as those that stopped, engaged, and ultimately purchased. The park clearly reflects the nature of the neighborhoods that it sits between. In my own observations based on visual cues, languages heard and spoken and engagement, I have drawn the three groups of possible customers available in volumes in the Mercado Craftdesign.

Well Resourced Portuguese

Many of the people walking through the park and living in the nearby neighborhoods are Portuguese of above average means. This observation is based on the clothing, and style of the people seen combined with language observation. The clients will have an above average amount of available income to spend on premium items.

Foreign National Residents

Lisbon has in recent years seen a massive growth in international immigrants from the US and Europe. Lisbon has become a destination for many remote/digital nomads and those with means. These clients represented several of the sales on this Saturday. They often have the means and the desire for premium handmade crafts making them a very valuable demographic. Many of these immigrants have found themselves living in the neighborhoods surrounding the Jardim, in Rato, Campo d.Ourique and Estrela/Lapa.

Tourists

The final group of people that was very well represented in our sales and engagement were tourists. The basilica and park are well represented on lists of must-see features of Lisbon, the nr. 28 tram also runs on right past the park. This brings a wide range of international tourists to the park, as well as the abundance of restaurants cafes, and the park itself. They represent the clients that may be looking for a souvenir or key memorable item to represent the holiday.

Many other clients’ groups were to be seen but from our engagement these represented most sales, contacts, and views. They are all very desirable client categories that are desirable for premium handmade crafts. The market has to be highly recommended for that purpose given the nature of the clients that a clean sunny day will make themselves readily available by the sheer nature of the park and environment around it.

Summary

I believe the market is a worthwhile attendance with the right product and the right weather. I believe premium and handcrafted items with a strong story and good personal brand and vendor marketing before and during the event will be able to do very well. Given the resource strong and large volume of potential clients, made available through the location of the park, it seems a great natural draw of eligible customers.

If, however, your products won’t appeal to the clients outlined in the above observations or if they don’t lend themselves to the exposed nature of the park environment it might be worth skipping this market.

if you have thoughts or comments please add them here. If you have a desire for more information or want to discuss any of the thoughts in this review please, reach out to me at timh@department45.eu, or on our instagram.

Mercado Craftsdesign - Review

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