National All Things Detroit Day Back At Eastern Market

On this National All Things Detroit Day, thousands came out to celebrate and shop at the Eastern Market.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - On this National All Things Detroit Day, thousands came out to celebrate and shop at the Eastern Market.

More than 200 small businesses, mostly from the motor city were vendors in the 2022 event. This is the first year the event is back since the pandemic.

Sisters Maia Anthony and Tolani Anthony shared their treats with customers. They credit their late grandma Ozella Germaine for passing along her love of baking. Now with Zella's bakery, these sisters honor her memory.

"I saw you know so many people were lacking quality desserts with no preservatives. And you know, I'm a foodie, and I wanted to create something that I would like to eat," said Maia.

But this wasn't so easy, because according to the sisters, they didn't get any PPP money. They had to fundraise and use personal funds, just to keep their business, their livelihood, afloat.

"You know when they say Detroit hustles harder, hello We're two representations of that," added Maia.

Jennyfer Crawford is a born and raised Detroiter, who created this buy-local event, eight years ago. This year, she says, is especially important for the vendors who didn't have the pop-up shops they relied on, during COVID.

"People can come here, and they love it," said Crawford. "But it's different for me here because I am born and raised here, my history is here. My family is from here, and that's why I take pride in it."

Crawford says that National All Things Detroit Day is about celebrating how far local businesses have come. She's working towards sharing the Metro Detroit talent, with the rest of the U.S.

"Without having that one-on-one connection, It's been really, really hard for some small businesses to get back into it. So it has been my work to make sure that we can get these pop-ups back going again."

Crawford sees celebrating All Things Detroit Day as celebrating how far local businesses have come in the Motor City.

"Great people are from Detroit. And so I just encourage people. You know what? We're gonna be a national holiday, come out and shop. We want people to fly in here to come and shop this event," concluded Crawford.