KW Christmas Market Cancelled After Organizer Gambles Away $30K of Deposit Money
Listen to this articleAround 200 local vendors are facing a crisis after the abrupt cancellation of an upcoming Christmas market, due to the event organizer gambling away the deposit money. The third edition of “It’s A Christmas Market” was set to take place on Nov. 12 at Bingemans. The cancellation was revealed by Stacy Cliff, who runs Stacy’s Events, in a private Facebook post where she confessed to gambling away the vendors’ deposits.
“It is with my most profound apologies that my mental health addiction compiled with my absolute selfishness has created a storm I cannot control,” Cliff stated in the post.
Cliff has been in the event planning sector for three years and had previously collaborated with some of the vendors for past events. She disclosed that she never actually made a deposit to Bingemans for the venue and estimates her total losses to be between $20,000 and $30,000.
Vendors, who had paid between $100 to $200 each for their spots, are now grappling with additional losses in stock they had been preparing for months. Tricia Teves, a vendor who had previously collaborated with Cliff, discussed the substantial investment of time and money she has lost.
Now, vendors are left pondering their next steps, especially since most other Christmas markets have already been fully booked. Nicole Franzkowiak of Night Ravens Designs is among those attempting to remedy the situation by negotiating directly with Bingemans to host another market on the originally planned date.
Franzkowiak was particularly upset upon discovering the market’s cancellation, as she is a mother of five and was counting on the extra income for the holidays. The vendors are also contemplating legal avenues, including filing police reports and taking the issue to small claims court.
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