BUSINESS
Handmade and Homegrown: Syracuse’s Own Wildflowers Armory
By: Grace Stecher, Senior Writer & Ava Pettigrew
Artist collective. Multi-vendor marketplace. Anti-mall. Many phrases have been used over the years to describe Wildflowers Armory, a beloved downtown Syracuse business featuring products from local merchants. Michael Heagerty, the founder and co-owner of Wildflowers Armory, says it perfectly. “We’re a handmade, homegrown, really authentic representation of the creative vendors of Central New York who work together to learn from each other and grow and then spread like wildflowers around the region.”
In 2018, Heagerty first envisioned this local shop when Wildflowers debuted in the Pomeroy Building located at 225 W. Jefferson Street in a train station annex behind a museum. Heagerty said the initial launch was a “marketing case study” to get people to even come to the building and began doing anything he could to attract consumers, even hanging colorful umbrellas and canopies outside to catch their attention.
Heagerty’s eye for innovation marks everything he does. On the corner of South Salina Street, where most saw a run-down Dunkin’ Donuts in the historical McCarthy Building, he saw the perfect space for achieving his longtime vision of an underground market and the new home for what would come to be Wildflowers Amory.
Opening in its new location on November 15, 2019, Wildflowers Armory features products from almost 60 homegrown small businesses, with everything from handmade jewelry to sea moss. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic broke out just four months after Wildflowers’ opening day, Heagerty and his team used the lockdown to renovate the unfinished basement under the Wildflowers Armory storefront, another testament to their resilience and creative vision.
Now known as the McCarthy Mercantile, Heaegerty and other members of Wildflowers Armory repurposed the once-barren basement into a space for dozens of mini storefronts owned and run by first-time business owners to operate. Heagerty’s vision for this “anti-mall” gives community members a chance to sell their products under the guidance of a larger collective, with cheaper rent, an 80/20 profit split, and the valuable knowledge of seasoned professionals.
In this once “dank ass basement,” as Heagerty puts it – opportunity, community, and entrepreneurship flourish. Taken under Wildflowers’ creative umbrella, unique small businesses are granted the means to get their shops up and running.
From The Cherry Pit Collective, a vintage clothing store, to Cuppa Candles, a DIY soy candle bar, to Syracuse Barber Lounge, a “full-service barbershop under the stairwell,” the McCarthy Mercantile features stores spanning all interests. When you step into the Mercantile, you get a taste for a variety of authentic products and services with the people who make them. The cashier likely made the product their customer is buying which creates an authentic connection between creator and consumer that online storefronts and department stores simply can’t provide.
Wildflowers Armory nurtures these authentic connections through one of their flourishing small businesses, BYSULI, a storefront located in the Mercantile which sells one-of-a-kind, handmade clothing pieces. For Suli, the owner of BYSULI, his character radiates at the heart of his brand, and he hopes to promote his message of “embracing the details that make you who you are.” Suli describes himself as a “simple, yet complex individual with big feelings who loves peace and knows struggle” and his clothing brand has become his favorite way to creatively express that.
It’s easy to see the type of business owners Wildflowers Armory supports – ones passionate about their product with a drive to succeed. With a space in the community-oriented Mercantile, Suli received opportunities that allowed his brand to grow organically at a fast rate. Opposed to relying on online sales and pop-up vendors, the storefront acted as a stable home base for the brand to attract anyone who walked downstairs.
In the McCarthy Mercantile, BYSULI has curated sales and connections on a more intimate level with customers and fellow vendors. As Suli remarks, “The best part is the constant motivation and inspiration I get just from observing others chase their goals and commit to their passions. It is a community of business owners who care for their neighbors.” This supportive community environment shows exactly how Wildflowers Armory stays true to its values, providing the space for small businesses to grow and thrive.
Another storefront, The Cherry Pit, which sells quality secondhand items ranging from clothing and accessories to furniture and home decor, has blossomed at the Mercantile. By gaining valuable insights into various aspects of running a successful business, this female-owned business has thrived. Abigail Minicozzi, one of The Cherry Pit founders and a Syracuse University design student, describes the Mercantile to be more than a place of commerce, but a hub of collaboration and community for her small business.
Through their storefront, Minicozzi and her co-owners have been able to see how the exchange of ideas, materials, and resources between the businesses in the Mercantile has broadened their horizons and equipped them with the tools needed to navigate the dynamic environment of retail. Right in the heart of Syracuse, the Wildflowers Armory hosts a supportive network of merchants, rooting for success not only for themselves but for those around them.
“If you have the entrepreneurial spirit, Wildflowers is the place for you. We are an economic driving force that was built out of a communal need. We allow vendors to have that opportunity to succeed that no one was giving them 10 years ago,” Heagerty said. In other words, Wildflowers Armory plants and nurtures the seeds for small businesses to grow and flourish in a community. Heagerty’s “anti-mall” helps local businesses to “spread in places you wouldn’t think they normally would, colorful and resilient,” just like wildflowers.
