Vintage pop-up market returns to SLO County city. Find out when it’s open

A vintage pop-up market is returning to San Luis Obispo County for its second year in a row selling handmade goods from local makers and artists.

Friends Amy Beams and Jen Pedersen have been selling at pop-up markets all over the county for over a decade. Last year, they noticed a decrease in their regular markets and a price increase to be a vendor in the larger markets.

The pair wanted a spot in North County where local artists, makers and resellers could get together and sell their goods — so they made one themselves.

Beams and Pedersen started Traffic Jam Vintage and Handmade Market in Atascadero in July 2025, setting up tents in the parking lot behind Beams’ business Golden State Goods and holding the market every third Sunday for six months.

“We used our experience being in those pop-up markets and we kind of just went for it,” Beams told The Tribune. “Our first pop up market, we had vendors coming all the way from Visalia to pop-up, which was really cool and means that we got out to the right people.”

After organizing the market from April to December, harsh weather caused Beams and Pedersen to close up the outdoor “shop” through the start of the new year.

Now, the Traffic Jam Vintage and Handmade Market is back.

This year, the market has transformed its founders say, exclusively selling vintage and handmade items and food vendors placed throughout the market.

The market returns to Atascadero on Sunday, April 19, with 27 vendors like vintage clothing at Lucky Dog Thrift, custom candles at Unhinged Craft Candles, glassware at Mermaid Mindy’s Seaglass and sterling silver jewelry at Tablelands Collective.

A visit to the Traffic Jam Vintage and Handmade Market will not let a customer go hungry.

Food vendors and live music will also be in attendance, including Del-licious 805 smashburgers and philly cheesesteaks and Loveless & Co. Provisions dirty sodas.

“It’s different in Atascadero, just because it’s such a small town, and there’s not a lot of space to do pop-ups,” Beams said. “But if you can get creative, and that’s what we do, is get creative, we find the space, and we get our friends out, and we have fun with it. We just make it an experience.”

The Traffic Jam Vintage and Handmade Market will be in the parking lot behind the shops on Traffic Way in Atascadero at the intersection of Palma Avenue and Traffic Way.

For more information about the future vendors and market, visit its website or Instagram at trafficjamvintagemarket.com.