BIDDEFORD — Local craft and art vendors found solace at several downtown businesses amid the shopping madness on Black Friday, as several pop-up shops opened for the holiday season.

Pop-up shops opened at Full-Circle Gallery, Trillium, Suger, Lacava and Desert Moon Leather, among other businesses this week. Also opening was “Handmade on Main” at Engine, an artisan shop featuring several woodworking crafts, jewelry, prints and various other knick-knacks.

“It’s an eclectic mix,” said Engine Executive Director Tammy Ackerman on Friday.

Ackerman said this is the fourth year Engine has sponsored a holiday pop-up shop. This year’s opened on “Plaid Friday,” a concept pulled from Oakland, California, which seeks to shift the focus on national chain stores to small local businesses.

“The idea is similar to ‘Shop Small Saturday,’ where you shop at independently-owned businesses,” Ackerman said. “The dollar goes further in your community and more money stays in your community. Plus it’s part of our mission to support the arts and artisans.”

Patrons perused the goods at Engine on Friday, from local retailers including Maine Swing Company, Portland-based Hills & Trails, Co. and Honey Tribe Jewelry, among others.

Among the shoppers was John Tumiel, senior advisor to the president at the University of New England, who bought a photo print and a handcrafted anti-gravity wine bottle holder. Tumiel said he wasn’t out on Friday for any specific promotion, but rather to support local artisans.

“We wouldn’t have any (artisans) if they didn’t have support,” he said. “They enrich our lives, they make the community more brighter, more vibrant. I think they are the lead in the rejuvenation of downtown Biddeford.”

Ackerman said it’s OK to purchase some items from the larger stores, but said it’s also important support small businesses. There’s a direct line of benefit to makers, she said, and dollars spent in local communities stretch further than those spent at big-box stores.

“Small businesses are the backbone of America, especially Maine. Maine is known for its craft tradition,” she said. If we’re going to stimulate our economy, we all have to take part in that,” she said.

“Downtown Biddeford used to have a retail focus,” she continued. “It was the hub for people to shop. Of course with the mills leaving and jobs leaving with the mills, we’re trying to rebuild that in a different way.”

“I think what you’re seeing in Biddeford is a return of the Main Street shopping,” said Michael Macomber, co-owner of Elements in Biddeford, on Friday. “I grew up in Saco, and when I was a kid you’d just go to the Maine Mall. I heard stories about how that had a major effect on these downtowns.”

“In the last five years you’ve see a return to local, downtown shopping, so that’s really important, I think,” he said.

Macomber, who also set up a pop-up shop focusing on books in the vacant space next to Elements, said he wanted to expand his inventory for the holiday season. 

“One of the unfortunate things about the space with Elements is I can’t put more books in it because it’s a combo store with the coffee shop,” he said. “We were thinking about a way to expand our inventory for the holiday run and this space was still empty, so we decided to bulk up on some books and expand in here for the month.”

The shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays up until Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, Macomber said. 

Featured at Macomber’s shop is Rabelais Fine Books on Food and Drink, a local cookbook store headquartered in the North Dam Mill of the Pepperell Mill Campus.

Owner Don Lindegren, who was in the shop Friday, said he felt it was important for him to be featured, somewhat for his business but also for the city’s downtown.

“We like being able to participate in this because it gives us a presence on Main Street,” he said. “We think it’s really important for people to look at Main Street Biddeford as a place to shop and I think Michael’s done a great thing here.”

“I love that Michael has included a bookshop in what he’s done with Elements,” he said. “If we can help in a little way by participating in this pop-up, then it’s great. If we can sell some stuff, then it’s even better.” 

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].