Irina Diva, owner of ‘Jess It Up London’ on Broadway Market, launched a platform last month to put sustainable, independent, local businesses online. Rocked by gentrification and torn apart by the pandemic, Broadway Market has undergone serious change. Here, Irina discusses how her platform is reuniting her community.
I got the domain name sorted last March. Broadway Market Online. Then I didn’t do much about it. But it got to the point when I realised that we definitely need some sort of online platform as a collective. The pandemic, in a way, sped up the inevitable. It was just a question of time and, because we had to react quickly to a situation that no one could predict, it happened quicker than maybe it would have otherwise.
One day, I had to just sit down and go, ‘look, I’m doing this’. So I sat down and I built a website from watching YouTube tutorials because I had never built a website in my life. I’m sure that it took me ten times longer than someone who knew what they were doing. I almost couldn’t believe when it was up and running that I had actually done it. I didn’t do it for myself. I did it for the market. I can only take on so many traders at a time – there are over ten on the website now. It really makes me happy because we are together again, and we have really missed each other.
“The way businesses are run these days, especially independent businesses, sustainability is at the heart of each one.”
When we go to the market on Saturdays, we hang out in our wear and tear not hoping for much. We are not this or that, we are Broadway market. And that’s what the website is all about: we are back, all of us. I’ve been there for 15, 16 years and we started very, very small. This website reminds me of that. I thought about taking the formula of the street market and transporting it online and building that way. I started with the original crew, the people that were there at the beginning, because I felt that it was the natural way of expanding.
There is a business called Lucky Bird and the girl who runs it is called Kim. She was right there on Broadway at the beginning but then she had to move away. So, this has been a good way to have her back. The area changed. The demographics of the area changed. It made it difficult, if not impossible, for artists to be in the area, which is the sad bit about gentrification. In a way, the people that have made the area could no longer afford to be in the area. It gives me great pleasure to give them a platform to be back.
Each time I walk my dog, I end up chatting to someone that kind of goes: ‘Oh, when is the market back on?’ I say: “Well, I don’t know yet. But you know, we have this website.” One of the businesses on the website is called Usual Objections. They do swimwear made out of plastic bottles and stuff like that. They’re not on the market so it’s a lucky find. The way businesses are run these days, especially independent businesses, sustainability is at the heart of each one. We’ve realised quite early on that that is the way forward.
“Give me another pandemic and I’ll build a rocket by watching YouTube tutorials.”
I will be looking for local sponsorship and funding to cover our shipping costs, because then we can bring our prices down to the street market level. Businesses are struggling. We were hit really hard. There has been a year of getting by every and each way, however we can. This new platform is about supporting micro-businesses. And I think it’s because we are micro-businesses, when we come together as a whole, as a market; then we are like a business business.
The pandemic has got its positives. It made us look more into ourselves and the people around us, and made us care about each other in a different way. It turns out that we all really miss the market. It was a great pleasure just to look at other people’s stuff on the website. And then I say “oh, I really miss them.” When I was on the market, I didn’t have the chance to walk around other people’s stalls- so actually having the time to look at other people’s commodities in detail is something I really enjoy.
Give me another pandemic and I’ll build a rocket by watching YouTube tutorials. I have a market online but I like the street market because I like meeting people and I like chatting to people. This was for me personally the biggest loss that I suffered during the pandemic – not actually having chats. And now I can have chats with my fellow traders online!
Irina spoke to Amarachi Orie
Find Broadway Market Online here: https://broadwaymarketonline.com
