The first of four Wednesday “pop-up” markets in the event space at the new Madison Public Market took place as promised on June 10, ushered in by severe thunderstorms and destructive winds. By the time the market opened at 3:30 p.m., though, the storms had moved through the Madison area and a steady stream of visitors were dropping by the new market, 202 N. First St.

Billed as a “surprise public market preview,” the Wednesday markets feature vendors that are accepted merchants as well as those hopeful of scoring a permanent space or interested in vending in the smaller kiosk spaces. About 20 vendors were on site at the June 10 event. It’s also a way to invite the public into the building before the scheduled grand opening on July 23.

Market CEO Keisha Harrison said the bad weather had kept several pop-up vendors away.

The inaugural June Wednesday pop-up included a variety of small businesses. Some, such as Capri Cheese, Mango Man Cooks and Yalla Dips, are familiar from area farmers’ markets. Others sold handmade decorative items, from TacoCat Creations’ cat toys to The Stillroom Scientist’s candles and air fresheners.

Grace Christensen of The Stillroom Scientist said she had tried to get a merchant space, but was not accepted. Nonetheless she signed up for all four June pop-ups. Joe Whitney of Air Joe Farms, who grows microgreens, said he is also coming to all four markets and is interested in a kiosk space. Hannah Burwell of Sun and Moon Farm, selling spring turnips, lettuce mix, kale and other fresh produce, is interested in continuing to sell at the public market’s pop-ups, and said that there was currently nothing other than the pop-ups for her to apply for at the market.

Sam McDaniel of the the sweet nut company Fortune Favors, one of the accepted permanent merchants, noted that “everything takes a long time,” and that while opening the market “looks like it should be easy,” it’s hard for the public to see all the work that goes on behind the scenes, even the work that goes into signing the multiple leases. Fortune Favors closed its storefront on Atwood Avenue last September and McDaniel is looking forward to the cooperative nature of selling in a group at the market. “It’s hard for small retail if it requires the shopper to make an independent trip,” he said, noting that the multiple and varied businesses at the market can be “an engine for bringing people in.”

Applications for those interested in participating in future Wednesday pop-ups are still being accepted; participation in the pop-ups is not a guarantee that the vendor will be accepted for leased space at the market. The markets will run Wednesdays, 3:30-7 p.m., through July 1.