Meet Perri Salka

We had the good fortune of connecting with Perri Salka and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Perri, how does your business help the community?
What makes The WonderMart unique is that we exclusively stock products that are made or designed in my home state of New York by independent makers and emerging brands. Since launching my business in 2019, I have shared in success with over 300 individuals that make a living doing what they love. Many times, my shop is the first retailer to sell their work. I often times get to witness someone succeed to the point where they can turn their passion into a full time career. In providing an equitable platform for small brands to reach new customers, I am actively helping local residents of New York State generate income for themselves and their families and that feels great!! Shoppers visiting The WonderMart can also feel great about their purchase knowing it directly supports someone’s creative pursuits! I also find ways throughout the year to shine a light on even more brands and makers than I currently have space to support in my shop by offering brand pop-up events and tasting events at my shop, as well as by curating off-site makers market events at unique venues across the city. Through these ventures, I have shared in success with an additional 100+ emerging brands. In addition to my passion of supporting local creatives, I also contribute monetarily to a grapevine giving circle called “New York Women in Business For Good” where we collectively nominate a worthy organization each quarter to donate to. Over the years, I am proud to have diverted a percentage of my shop sales to NAMI, Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund, Brooklyn Community Pride Center, Black Art Futures Fund, Center For Reproductive Rights, The Food Bank For New York City — and the list keeps growing!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I originally launched The WonderMart in 2019 with the intention of playing the (very) long game and growing it slowly as a side business in addition to my full time day job. I simply planned to sell my curated inventory at makers markets across New York State on the weekends for the foreseeable future. However, when COVID shutdown the world, I was furrlowed for a few months from my day job and for the first time I had uninterrupted time to sit and think about my small business and how I really wanted it to grow. With in-person events on pause indefinitely, I had to quickly pivot online and launch an e-commerce shop to keep sales coming in for the handful of small brands I was supporting at the time. During this down time, I collaborated with a husband and wife to help them open their first retail location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and learned SO MUCH from that experience. I then was given the opportunity to host a holiday pop-up in a temporary storefront in December 2020. Feeling less than stellar from the lack of growth I had for my business due to Covid-19, I jumped on this opportunity. Long story short, it was a success and I wound up converting the space, along with a friend of mine, into a long-term gift shop and second hand clothing store called The Pop-Up Shop BK. We operated together in that space for 1.5 years and during this time, I grew the confidence needed to visualize running my own shop. In May 2022, I signed a lease to my very own storefront for The WonderMart, located in the affluent neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. This was a real game changer for the trajectory and success of The WonderMart. My shop was instantly greeted with such a warm welcome from the community with first time visitors quickly becoming regular customers. Over the last two years, continuing to grow month over month, year over year, has not been without its challenges, but I wouldn’t change any of it for the world! I am in constant awe of myself for finding the inner confidence to take a leap of faith and create a viable platform for local brands and makers to be discovered and thrive.

A note for those of you out there looking to start your own small business – don’t overthink it. I mean that! Have a general framework for how you want to operate your business, but leave plenty of room for iteration along the way. Don’t back yourself into a corner trying to make everything perfect right out of the gate. Things will typically fall in to place if you have the ability to rise to challenges and constantly iterate without beating yourself up when your original plan doesn’t pan out exactly how you envisioned. Staying positive enough to believe that things can and will be better is my biggest key to success so far as I have grown The WonderMart. And finding time to connect with other business owners to share successes and failures is also incredibly important. No business owner is an island! Make time each month to network and your self and your business will be better for it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Being a native New Yorker and having lived as adult in and around NYC and Brooklyn for nearly 20 years, I like to think I have my finger on the pulse of this amazing city! Here’s a short list of some of my fave spots to discover.

To EAT; The Maple Crueller from Patti Ann’s (570 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn), The Mole de Piaxtla from Casa Enrique (5-48 49th Ave, Long Island City), The Gabi Bowl from Baba Cool Cafe (33 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn), Any pasta dish from Fausto (348 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn).

To DRINK; Cocktails with a view at Grand Banks (Pier 25 Hudson River, NYC), Inventive cocktails at Katana Kitten (531 Hudson St, NYC), An extensive whiskey list and live music at The Flatiron Room (37 W 26th St, NYC).

To SHOP; Find the best assortment of goods for hosting a dinner party from Big Night (154 Franklin St, Brooklyn), Find a funky new piece of jewelry at Haricot Vert (119 N 1st St, Brooklyn), Find beautifully curated home decor at Leif Shop (99 Grand St, Brooklyn), Find a new plant baby at Tend Greenpoint (252 Franklin St, Brooklyn), Find the perfect pen and journal at Yoseka Stationery (63 West St, Brooklyn)

To EXPERIENCE; Take a selfie in front of The Wonder Tree (141 India St, Brooklyn), See an exhibit at The Shed (545 W 30th St, NYC), Take in a different vantage point of the city on The Highline (14th St-34th St with entrances along 10th and 11th ave, NYC), Take a client call and pet cute dogs at Boris & Horton (195 Avenue A, NYC), Learn a new craft at Loop of The Loom (197 Plymouth St).

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d love to shoutout one of my business mentors and friend, Kim Robinson, Founder of 3pts! Kim is one of those special individuals in life that is always open to offering advice or sharing a resource with no strings attached. I met Kim two years ago through an event hosted by the non-profit organization, Made in NYC. We had a natural connection because we both work hard to help creatives thrive. We have since started meeting once a month to help hold each other accountable to reaching the goals we have for our own businesses and to use each other as a springboard for new ideas and feedback. Having this 1:1 time with Kim has proven to be incredibly valuable and inspiring for me. As a one-woman-show, running a business can sometimes feel overwhelming and lonely, and I am often iterating in a vacuum. Having someone in my inner circle that I can rely on for feedback and creative problem solving in a judgement free zone has helped me meet various challenges head-on and with more confidence and trust in following my intuition as a business owner.

Website: www.thewondermart.shop

Instagram: @shop_thewondermart

Facebook: @thewondermart

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-wondermart-brooklyn

Other: TikTok: @thewondermart

Image Credits
The WonderMart