Local Artist Market Takes Off

By Isabella Clement

Rustic Buffalo Artisan Market is a beautiful, locally-owned business that spreads creativity, and grants Buffalo to make their houses a home. Owned and operated by John Paul “JP” Pirrone and his business partner and spouse, Scott, started back in 2020 during the Pandemic. Between the two of them, JP comes from a medical background. He works as a part-time Respiratory Therapist, working three to four days a week at the hospital. While Scott, his partner, came from recently retiring in retail – specifically at Target. The two had a lot of family members and friends go out of business during that period of time; so, they decided to help their family and friends out by creating – at the time – what they thought would be a small artisan market. News spread fast for the couple and they soon had about 300-400 applicants to be a part of their market. The support they had was much deserved, not only by family and friends, but also local artisans, vendors, and supporters.

The business started off with a small building in North Tonawanda, but as the business grew with more vendors and customers, the buildings eventually evolved into three or four buildings in order to hold all of the vendors products and customers. Since then, they have five locations now in different parts of Buffalo: one in North Tonawanda, East Aurora, Williamsville, Elmwood Ave., and even as far as Ellicottville! They plan to open more locations in this upcoming year. They currently have over 300 artisans within the business, and 1,800 artisans on their waitlists. Each store has a number of unique and hand-crafted sections, all creating different ideas for home decor, clothing, knick-knacks, and more.

Coming up with the name for the business, they knew they had an idea for a more “rustic” aesthetic for the store. More specifically decor, looks, and vibes – and since they wanted to be Buffalo-themed as well, they came up with the name “Rustic Buffalo”. Which fits the store’s vibes completely.

They typically hold events at different locations. Their upcoming event is their “Sip-and-Shop”, where they rent out the Kenen Center in Lockport, allowing 200 vendors and artisans to set up in the arena. Typically, they have over 7,000 attendees at this event, and the 5 dollar entrance fee goes straight to the Center. JP expressed that it was stressful in the beginning – since there were so many attendees and people were waiting to even come in. But, as time went on, and they learned from their past experiences they created a system that worked for them.

Talking to JP about the business was a pleasure; getting to know this amazing company and creative community was a wonderful experience as well. Rustic Buffalo is a great way to shop locally, and have the opportunity to find decor, art, clothing, and more to fit your home the way you want it to.