CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - Champaign-based business Miss Market is making sure women-run businesses are supported all year round.
A Champaign mom’s failed hunt for clothes that fit inspired her to start a new business focused on supporting women. Newly postpartum Champaign entrepreneur Cynthia Bruno turned to online ordering when COVID-19 forced the world (and dressing rooms everywhere) to close. After many failed attempts to find clothes that fit, Bruno made a pledge to buy exclusively from women-led businesses hoping she’d find something that worked. She did, and in the process she also co-founded Miss Market.
Miss Market is a directory of woman-owned, run, and founded businesses, products, and services. And while it’s a national directory, many of the companies featured are local to Champaign-Urbana.
Miss Market lets you filter by the type of product you’re looking for- from clothing to entertainment- and target your support to BIPOC, Latinx, Environmentally Conscious brands, and even narrow it further to women founded, owned, or run companies.
“I so badly wanted to get as much as I could from women-run stores, but it required hours of research to make simple purchasing decisions. Supporting fellow woman entrepreneurs through our spending should be fun, easy, and accessible. That’s how Miss Market started,” Bruno said.
Miss Market won a grant from the City of Champaign in 2021 to bring the directory to life and worked with Visit Champaign County to highlight local women-led businesses. It’s a mission that’s important for Miss Market because accessibility to entrepreneurship has been historically difficult for women.
Bruno thinks Miss Market will help people make more meaningful spending decisions.
“Consumers are demanding more transparency, and that’s what Miss Market brings. By understanding who you’re supporting with your spending, we can all be more intentional about the brands, businesses, and communities we’re lifting up with our money,” she added.
