Nevada Appeal owner Adam Trumble (left), ‘young entrepreneur’ Thalia Chavez (center) and Carson City Mayor Lori Bagwell at Meet Your Merchant on May 17, 2025.
Juli Fair
Carson City Mayor Lori Bagwell was seen Saturday exploring the business booths at the Nevada Appeal’s inaugural Meet Your Merchant event at the MAC.
The mayor was among hundreds of people who mingled in the athletic center among more than 30 businesses set up in expo fashion. Bagwell mentioned “young entrepreneur” Thalia Chavez, the cake decorator at the north Carson Save Mart who dreams of opening her own shop downtown and who provided a custom cake and cupcakes for the event.
“I’m always excited to celebrate small businesses in our community because I know they’re our backbone,” Bagwell said.
Meet Your Merchant had a mix of new and established businesses, community organizations and interactive and educational booths from the Appeal, which was celebrating 160 years of publishing.
Hundreds of people attended the inaugural Meet Your Merchant event hosted by the Nevada Appeal on May 17, 2025 at the MAC in Carson City. Photos by Juli Fair for the Nevada Appeal.
“It’s great to introduce some of these cottage businesses to the community,” said Ronni Hannaman, executive director of the Carson City Chamber of the Commerce.
Tiffany Coury, founder and owner of Elle Equine, was representing her new business that offers horse-riding programs to a range of customers, including those with disabilities and special needs.
Coury worked in health care for two decades, becoming CEO of St. Mary’s in Reno. She said coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, her own connection to horses inspired the new venture.
“They’re healing,” she said of her equine partners.
Coury recently relocated operations from Reno to northwest Carson, and business has been “off to a good start,” she said. The company has five horses in Carson for clients, but Coury will travel from Carson Valley to Spanish Springs to offer her services.
Coury was enjoying meeting other business owners at the event. A guardian ad litem in the foster care system, she also expressed passion for serving the community’s youth.
“We have to connect all people and resources,” she said. “Every child in this community belongs to all of us.”
Abril Garcia, co-owner of Tapatia Ice Cream Shop at 200 E. Winnie Lane, knows about connecting with community, especially the Latino community.
The shop that offers handmade ice cream, popsicles, frozen yogurt and agua frescas is approaching two years in business.
“Business is good when the weather is good,” Garcia said of the ice cream market.
Accordingly, La Tapatia will be at summer events like the Taste of Downtown and Carson Farmers Market. At the same time, Garcia highlighted food items like crepes, nachos and Mexican hotdogs. She plans to offer sourdough sandwiches this fall.
The idea, Garcia explained, is to expand flavors and keep offerings fresh.
Carson Middle School eighth-grader Matt Warner was interested in something else, hanging out near a selection of the Appeal’s archives on display.
“I like to see all of the collections of these, really interesting,” Warner said of the 1947-50 editions.
The 13-year-old wasn’t sure about newspapers in general, saying he gets his news from word-of-mouth at the middle school. But he did like the close-knit sense of community the event was celebrating.
“In a small town, you know everything,” he remarked.
Carson City Clerk-Recorder Scott Hoen was manning another booth, providing information to visitors about a notification alert system for property owners and how to make some information in voting records confidential.
The Clerk-Recorder’s Office is looking for a new location as the Carson City Courthouse remodel gets underway. Relocation options will be discussed in June by the Board of Supervisors, Hoen said, noting his office needs to move before the next election cycle in 2026.
At Meet Your Merchant, Hoen was getting feedback from community members. He emphasized accessibility to the public.
“It’s just transparency,” he said, “letting people know what’s going on, so they have a voice.”