Photograph by Ashley White
At heart, Mike Huddleston and C.C. Indivero are just thrift store kids with a knack for arts and crafts. The pair met in 2013 when Indivero, a professional hairdresser, cut Huddleston’s hair; they hit it off over a shared love of all things secondhand. From there, a beautiful friendship—and business venture—was born. Behold the magic of GVG Events, a traveling vintage goods and art market that pops up around the city between March and December.
GVG Events (formerly Georgia Vintage Goods) started as an assemblage of antique goods in a grass lot on Carroll Street in Cabbagetown. In 2015, Huddleston and Indivero moved the shop to the bar 97 Estoria for a series of pop-up art markets, which grew to include dozens of local art, craft, and furniture vendors. By year three, they could barely fit all their retailers into the bar’s tiny parking lot. “There was just such a need for it, and people were chomping at the bit trying to get into the [vendor] spaces,” says Indivero.
To answer that call, GVG Events expanded beyond Cabbagetown; they now operate close to 40 events in neighborhoods around Atlanta. The pair feels lucky that much of GVG’s growth has come organically through word of mouth, as current vendors recruit their fellow artists.
In a city that’s constantly changing, Huddleston and Indivero have prioritized staying true to Atlanta’s roots. “I’ve been in Atlanta since ’08, and it’s a whole different world now,’’ Huddleston says. “We’re trying to hold on to the cool things. We are the shepherds here, trying to keep things going, even with mixed-use developments and $2,000 one-bedroom apartments.”
Summerhill, one of the city’s most rapidly developing neighborhoods, has become home to a staple GVG event: Summerhill Sundays. The market runs in March, May, July, September, and November in a parking lot off Georgia Avenue, where shoppers are greeted by the tunes of local DJ Ra’s Al Ghul (aka “The Real Ill Withers”). Vendors have included artist Lindy Lane of Not Perky Shop, vintage clothing curators from No Surrender Vintage Collective, and hair and body care company HoneyChile HairLove. Huddleston and Indivero have also partnered with local food trucks, so visitors can get some delicious eats while they browse the booths.
To GVG’s founders, one of the greatest rewards is seeing the vendors they’ve hosted grow into thriving, self-sufficient businesses. “If we can look at you in 5, 10 years and you’re successful—to just know that we had any type of help with that . . . it’s almost better than pay,” says Indivero. “Our wives don’t agree with that, but it absolutely is.”
This article appears in our April 2024 issue.
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Matt Walljasper
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