Local pop-up shop, Here., has bloomed in Annapolis Towne Center for March.

The Annapolis-based shop, owned by Arnold resident Ellen “El”  Lunay, features items from 70 local artists throughout the Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia region including clothing, home décor and crafts geared toward all age groups.

The shop will be open from Friday to March 24. It’s located between the Baltimore Coffee and Tea Shop and South Moon Under in the Annapolis Town Center.

Before starting the traveling shop, Lunay worked in the fashion and garment industry selling textiles and managing a production line for clothing. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1993 with a degree in fashion merchandising. She moved to Arnold in 2005 from Los Angeles to take over her father’s small business selling stainless steel marine parts. Lunay founded Here. in March 2013 with her business partner, Amy Bellhorn, and debuted in downtown Annapolis.

The shop started as a part-time venture, but Lunay shifted to full time in 2019. Bellhorn later departed to focus on her full-time work.

“I had heard about pop-ups happening in bigger cities however many years ago in 2012. I really thought it was a cool idea and wanted to bring it to Annapolis. That idea of doing a short-term pop-up — one creates a sense of urgency and excitement to the customers,” she said.

Since its debut, the shop’s inventory has only grown in size. In its first pop-up, the shop featured about 20 artisans in its inventory. This year, the shop is featuring about 70 artisans and their work, Lunay said. The shop always features new artisans and runs on a consignment-based system.

Artisans drop off their inventory and are paid for the items that are sold in the shop. The artisans take home whatever is not sold.

Felt Florals, an Annapolis-based small business that sells hand-made felt flowers, is one of many shopsfeatured on the shelves.

“It’s great for me because if an artist has never been in a retail shop before, then I’m showing something that’s nowhere else. On the other hand, it’s great for [the artsians] because they’re having an opportunity to test out retail, but it’s not a big commitment because it’s short term. Then they could see if it’s a good fit for them if that’s the next step in their business,” Lunay said.

Here. has been in many vacant retail locations throughout the downtown Annapolis area including Main Street, West Street, Randall Street, Maryland Avenue as well as Maryland Hall. Lunay has been as far as Cape St. Claire where she worked alongside a hair salon in the same room. Lunay’s shop recently returned to the downtown area from October to December on Church Circle.

Lunay also uses her shop to give back to community organizations and causes. In 2022, Lunay was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was caught early enough to allow her to recover, but she used her followers to raise awareness and encourage women to schedule their annual appointments. A portion of proceeds from anything in her shop that is related to breast cancer is donated toward breast cancer research each year.

Lunay also holds a give-back day for each shop period when she picks a local organization to donate to. Lunay chose to support the Anne Arundel Food Bank for this shop’s duration. A portion of sales will go to the food bank, she said.

“It’s community driven. From the beginning, we’ve always wanted to have a great community of makers, shoppers, it’s just like one big happy family,” Lunay said.

For information about store hours and special featured events go to: hereapopupshop.com.