Vendors Come from All Over to be Friends of Forest

Soy candles that melt into cuticle conditioner.

Soft, comfortable clothing made from recycled water bottles.

There was a little bit of everything offered at Tuesday night's "Friends of Forest" business expo, held from 5:30.-8 p.m. at Forest Elementary School. More than 60 vendors came from far and near, paying $20 per space to share their products and services with the public.

Organizer Melissa Rakolta said while she was nervous about setting up for the first-ever event, "It went well. It went really well. We had a good group of people setting up."

There was a waiting list of 15 vendors for the show.

"What this tells you is there are a lot of companies like (mine) in need of advertising," Rakolta said.

Business at Rakolta's table in the lobby was brisk around 6 p.m., as potential customers looked over her line of purses and other gift items. Another Farmington Hills resident, Kaye Miller, kept busy at her table, which was located in one of the interior rooms. She started selling purses seven years ago, almost on a whim.

"We were in Chicago and came across someone who was selling purses," she said. "My husband asked me, 'If I bought all these, do you think you could sell them?' I said sure, and I sold them all in a week."

That first group of 50 sales led Miller to buy more, at trade shows and from a variety of vendors. She also represents Send Out Cards, a company that offers individual and business customers the opportunity to create and send custom-designed and personalized greeting cards, gifts and more.

While working her own booth, Miller modeled a jacket distributed by Kika Paprika, a company owned by Plymouth resident Beth Campau.

"This is a line of eco-friendly clothing," Campau said. "A lot of the pieces are made of recycled water bottles. And everything is made in the U.S."

"These are so soft," she added. "You really have to feel it."

The owner of Soul Purpose came from Detroit to the event. Angelita Thomas said she learned about the event through Facebook and decided to come out to promote her three-year-old line of all-natural bath and body products.

"These products are designed to bring you a spa treatment at home," she said. The soy candles have multiple purposes; in addition to lighting up a room, the melted soy wax can be used as a cuticle conditioner and, once it's completely liquefied, as an aromatherapy massage oil.

Rakolta estimated that hundreds of people attended, and said she saw a lot of people shopping as she checked in with vendors. That's what she hoped the event would do, and she hopes there'll be another. Chances should be pretty good, the event raised nearly $2,000 to benefit the school.

"If the PTA is pleased, we'll do it again," she said. "I'm kind of hoping the other schools try something like this, too."