Life and Work with Cindy Louie, Tony Ce and Vicente Reid

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Louie, Tony Ce and Vicente Reid.

“PHX Night Market started out as an idea. The idea started as a post on Facebook back in February 2017 by PNM co-founder and owner of Snoh Ice Shavery, Tony Ce. The idea quickly bloomed into fruition after Cindy Louie, PNM co-founder and owner of Go Studio Go, reached out to Ce a week later and proposed the idea of tackling the Market as a duo. Soon after, the pair pulled in Vicente Reid, CEO of the Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce, and thus formed the PNM executive team.” – From our article in the Asian Sun by Shanna Fuji who captured it perfectly.

The trio had the perfect completed the perfect storm to bring this event to life. Tony with the years of local business building experience bringing the first Asian Specialty Dessert Shop to Downtown Phoenix, Cindy with over a decade of designing interiors and brand experiences for national brands ranging from libraries to restaurants, and Vicente with an unbelievable resume of working with national companies and organizations to bring events and programs to life.

After a year of planning and scheming the idea became a reality. On April 21, 2018, history was made, the first Asian Street Food Night Market debuted at the Phoenix Public Market in Downtown Phoenix. The PNM team had anticipated 5K attendees for the two-night event based on past festivals held at that location. Little did they know, 8K Arizonans would show up for them on Day 1, pushing them to a record 12K+ attendance for both nights.

QUOTES from Asian Sun from Founders:

“The PHX Night Market was not just another food festival. It was an opportunity to help small businesses have a voice in a very competitive market. We had 10 start-from-scratch businesses debut at the event. For some, we were able to provide the assistance and guidance needed to obtain the permits, equipment, and funds to start up,” said Louie. “After the event, many of the businesses built their confidence and are continuing to thrive with new opportunities developed from the exposure and recommendations received during the Market.” – Louie

“After the very successful inaugural event, we plan on coming back in both spring and fall of 2019,” said Reid. “The next PHX Night Market will be held at a much larger venue with additional vendors and some very special items.

We’ll be paying homage to our global inspirations by incorporating different styles and aesthetics. Once again, we’ll continue our efforts of both economic and cultural development, and focus on giving individuals opportunities that they otherwise would not have.” – Reid

“Phoenix has so much opportunity, but no one necessarily wants to take the first step towards cultivating culture.
They’d rather go to a city where culture is already established. My thought was always, ‘Why not be the one to create culture?’ That’s what we were hoping to accomplish with PHX Night Market.” – Ce

Next Steps:
– The PHX Night Market will be back again Spring and Fall of 2019 in a much larger venue to accommodate hungrier crowds.
– Continue to see more innovative foods at the festival.
– More new businesses that will hopefully develop a home in Phoenix.
– More unique experiences and installations for the whole family.
– Sharing of more untold stories from local entrepreneurs, taste makers and change makers.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The team had several obstacles to face to make this event happen:

– Brand new event, every single penny was raised and gained from scratch to produce this event.
– The team only had 2 hours to set up 80 vendors and food trucks on site, day of due to a previous event also booked on the same site.
– Limited staff, the event was new and Tony, Cindy and Vicente gathered as much help and volunteers they could to help run the show but with limited funds, everyone had to wear several hats from marketing, promotion, scouting, production to clean-up.
– Trust in a first time event, with so many festivals in town it was hard to stand out and make sure there would be a great attendance. Tony, Cindy and Vicente hand selected every vendor that attended and went door to door to many of their local favorites to have them attend this unique event so they can share their good foods with the City.

We had a thousands of nos before we got a yes. – Cindy

Please tell us about PHX Night Market.
Sets us apart as a festival:
– 80 food and retail vendors came together from all over the valley, all with unique debut items you cannot get at stores.
– 10 of the businesses are started from scratch and debuted with the help of PHX Night Market.
– 12K Attendance
– Two nights of transporting PHX to everywhere from Cambodia, Philippines, Korea, Hawaiian, Laotian and much much more.
– Attendees that had a chance to experience it said it was the closest they’ve ever seen in Arizona to Night Markets they’ve been to in Asia.
– Debut of entire fried squid on a stick, bubble waffle desserts, takoyaki balls, poke burritos, etc.
– Most importantly are the stories.
– We set out not to create a festival but a venue for opportunities for entrepreneurs like ourselves who just needed a little push and a little confidence. – Cindy
– Creativity is what’s going to set us apart as a City and by creating new opportunities and more unlikely collaborations like the three of us had – that’s what’s going to drive conversation and change. – Cindy

Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
People – hearing the stories from everyone in our local surroundings.

We interviewed vendors to participate in the event, every single one because we wanted to hear their stories, their struggles and successes.

Our goal is to share those stories with Phoenix and help them grow into the community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.phxnightmarket.com
• Phone: 480-612-7392
• Email: phxnightmarket@gmail.com
• Instagram: phxnightmarket
• Facebook: phxnightmarket

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.