My name is Karen Cole. My business is Karen Cole Timeless Treasures. I started the business in 2023, and Timeless Treasures really represents growth, community, and a place where we can communicate together freely. What inspired Timeless Treasures was that I’m really allergic to a lot of metals and jewelry. I could never find a jewelry piece or collection that I really liked—nothing that wouldn’t irritate my skin. I have really bad eczema and very sensitive skin, so there was

My name is Vianey and I am an Ebru artist. The art is a water marbling technique from Turkey. The company that I work with is Culture Palette. I am the lead marbling artist, and I am also the CEO, marketing director, cash register—so that is what I do. An early memory of my childhood that brings me back to Ebru, water marbling, I think when I was around maybe nine years old and I wanted to start my own business. Back then I wanted it to be through drawing coloring pages for o

My name is Melissa Lynn, and I co‑own Sweet Crunch Waffles in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the Market at 7th Street, we specialize in liege waffles. They are a little different than waffles you make at home. It’s not made from a batter—it’s made from a dough that we make in‑house with all fresh ingredients. It rises and rests for about 24 hours, and once it’s ready, we mix in pearl sugar. That’s what makes a liege waffle: the dough and the sugar together. A sweet treat that

My name is Siobhan Reddick, and I am one of the owners of the social cow ice cream inside the market at 7th Street. We specialize in creating experiences through ice cream. We have 12 flavors of hand-dipped ice cream and a vintage truck that we do private events with. Funny enough, the dish that brings me back to my childhood is ice cream. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, and we just ate ice cream a lot. Like there were a lot of grandkids and cousins running around

My name is Chef Ammalu. I am the owner and the executive chef of Serengeti Kitchen. We are located inside the Market at 7th Street. We specialize in Tanzanian cuisine. The food that brings me back immediately to my childhood memory is chapati. Growing up, we ate a lot of chapati. Chapati is a very popular food that we enjoy during breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Growing up, I remember dipping them in our coconut beans. That is my favorite way of enjoying chapati. The family reci

My name is Marissa. I am the general manager of Resident Culture’s uptown location, located in the Market at 7th Street. Resident Culture has been a brewery in Plaza Midwood for almost nine years, and we’ve had our taproom in the uptown location for a little over two years. We’re known for hazy IPAs, but we also expand to everything. We love doing imperial stouts, barrel‑aged beers, funky sours, and light lagers that are approachable. Our motto is where your weird is welcome

My name is Josh Allen. I'm the manager of Not Just Coffee at the 7th Street Market. I've been managing here for about a year and a half and have been a part of the company for three years now. Since I moved to Charlotte a few years ago, I've been very happy to be a part of this company. I’d say that Not Just Coffee is the highlight of the Charlotte coffee scene for me. Even before I started working here, the environment of all the shops—and Not Just Coffee specifically—was al

My name is Raffaele Patrizi. I am the chef‑owner of Mano Bella Artisan Food. We are located in Charlotte, North Carolina. My style of cuisine is classic Italian cuisine. I moved to the States back in 2014. I was born and raised in Rome, Italy, and I have a very big and deep approach to real Italian cuisine. You can eat in my now three restaurants that I own in Charlotte. My wife is the operator, creator, and pretty much designer of everything like that. But I say, whatever y

My name is Janelle Doyle. I am the owner of It’s Poppin’ Gourmet Kettle Corn, and we are a gourmet kettle corn company with over 60 delicious flavors. A dish or recipe from my family that immediately brings me back to childhood is barbecue. We used to have big barbecues on holidays—Fourth of July, Juneteenth, Labor Day—and it would bring all of our family together, family that maybe we hadn’t seen in a while. We would meet up at someone’s house, maybe an uncle or auntie, or m

My name is Roberto Brooks, co‑owner of Hip Hop Smoothies. And I am Shamika Brooks, the second half of Hip Hop Smoothies. We serve real fruit smoothies at our location in the Market at 7th Street. There’s a big push right now for mocktail‑style drinks, so we wanted to incorporate our real fruit smoothies with a bitter option—something that still feels like you’re getting an alcoholic drink, but is completely alcohol‑free. That’s how we created our exclusive SHOUT! smoothie: Th

My name is Gina DePaolo. I'm the owner of Geno D's Pizza at the Market at 7th Street. We specialize in old‑school New Jersey–style pizza. Our grandma pizza started in my family. My grandmother and my father’s recipe of our grandma pizza and Sicilian pizza meant we would make the dough in the morning, proof it for midday, cook the shell, and then finish it at night for dinner. So a center pie with fresh mozzarella, strips of sauce, and then a quick pesto sauce with just basil

My name is Aubrey LeGrand, and my business is Flow’s Grand, where we sell 100% soy wax candles and body products. We also host a number of events—candle‑making events or scent‑centric events—at the 7th Street Market or on location for groups and companies. I think I’ve always been obsessed with smells. Good smells, bad smells. I was that kid who was always putting things to my nose to smell them, to check them out olfactorily. My earliest memory—I couldn’t have been more than

My name is Christy Pope. I own CLT Find with my business partner and friend, Tony South. We are going into our 10th year of business. We created CLT Find to be a one‑stop shop for local gifting. We wanted to represent like‑minded makers and artists in our local community who create beautiful items handmade in small batches. What brought both Tony and me to Charlotte were our first jobs out of college. Neither of us are native to Charlotte—we are native to North Carolina. Grow

I'm Chef Erick Crawford. I am the executive chef and owner of Chop Chop Red Pot and also Marley Jean's Raw Bar in Davidson, North Carolina and Chop Chop Red Pot on 7th. We'll be opening shortly, with April 1 as our target date. One dish that I really have nostalgic feelings about is grits. Growing up in the south, you know, they're going to every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You know, we could have gone in all those directions. So that really, really hits home for me when I

Hello, my name is Joshua Villapando. I own Assorted Table Wine & Shop in the Market at 7th Street, and I’m here to talk about the Surrey Sellers Tannat red wine. My first impression of Tannat was that it was really inky and super tannic. The name “tannat” comes from its tannins—chemicals from the grape skin that react with your saliva and give you that feeling of dryness on your palate. My first experience with it was a Tannat out of southwestern France. It’s a very inky, ext