Shoppers, vendors adjust to new booth layouts at Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market

The Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market is back in Dilworth Park, but shoppers and vendors are adjusting to a new layout designed to make the market more accessible.

The annual market and the Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink opened Friday, kicking off the holiday season in Center City.

This year, organizers with German American Marketing, which also operates the Christmas Village in LOVE Park, are requiring vendors to arrange their booths so customers shop from outside rather than walking inside.

The change is intended to create a more ADA-compliant setup and make booths more equally accessible to patrons.

For some longtime vendors, the adjustment has changed how they interact with customers.

"We're doing the best we can to bring all the beautiful jewelry up front to the customers," said Barry Allen of Makin' It Designs by Vicki, which has sold handcrafted jewelry at the market for nine years. "The traffic is coming in — it's slower because few people can come in at a time."

Allen said many customers return year after year and are accustomed to stepping inside the booth to browse.

"It's tougher," he said. "It would be great if people could come in. People are disappointed."

Thirteen-year-old Victoria Toussaint said she has been visiting the market since she was 4 years old and misses being able to get a closer look at merchandise.

"If I like a certain type of shirt, I can't feel the texture," Toussaint said. "Or I even like plushies, because there's a lot of people selling plushies, or coats. I can't get a feel of what I want to buy."

Other visitors said they appreciate the effort to improve accessibility but believe broader changes are still needed.

Roger Pacheco, who visited the market with his wife, Maria, said crowded walkways can make navigating the market difficult for people like his wife, who uses a wheelchair.

"I think it's a move in the right direction," Pacheco said. "But again, it's a spacing issue."

Pacheco said organizers would need to widen pathways and potentially reduce the number of vendors to make the market easier to navigate.

"You're moving in the right direction, but it's not enough," he said.

Some shoppers said they were still learning the new rules.

"I'm still getting used to it," Martha Sepulveda said. "I feel bad because I almost went into a store. They're like, 'No, you need to watch from behind.' I was like, 'I'm so sorry!'"

Not every vendor sees the change as a drawback.

Gemma Hollister, of Antolini Glass Company, said the new setup gives vendors more room inside their booths.

"We find that we have more room in the booth. It's really comfortable, and if it makes the market more accessible for people, I don't mind," Hollister said.

Despite the changes, vendors said they still hope visitors leave with the feeling they have come to expect from Philadelphia's holiday markets.

"We want people to feel joy when they come across our work," Hollister said.

The Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market is scheduled to run through Jan. 1. The Christmas Village in LOVE Park is scheduled to open Nov. 21. and run through Dec. 27.