More than 30 local vendors are set to line up at Chuco Relic Central on Sunday, September 20, for the annual 915 Market, an event organizers say offers free admission, live music, and a chance to shop small across the borderland. The market runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 3750 Gateway Blvd East, and will feature food, attractions, and performances from local bands alongside the vendor booths.
The event is timed to El Paso's own mid-September identity, and it comes from a store with deep roots in that identity. According to KTSM 9 News, Chuco Relic has been a popular local store since 2012. Chuco Relic's local identity is also highlighted in a company Facebook post. Chuco Relic now operates multiple storefronts across El Paso, including its Central and West locations.
A Vendor Lineup Rooted in Local Makers
The market is presented as a gathering of regional artisans and small businesses, according to details Chuco Relic published across its official digital channels. That lineup reflects the store's broader business model: roughly 90 percent of the products sold at Chuco Relic are crafted locally by a network of more than 30 El Paso artists and makers, per ThreeBestRated.
That reliance on hyper-local production mirrors the makeup of El Paso's small-business economy more broadly. About 85 percent of businesses in El Paso County have fewer than 20 employees, and 56 percent are minority-owned, according to a 2023 report from the City of El Paso Economic and International Development Department citing U.S. Census data. Events like the 915 Market function as both cultural celebrations and revenue opportunities for the kind of small, locally rooted enterprises that dominate the region's commercial landscape.
Why Mid-September Carries Extra Weight
The market's date is no accident. The City of El Paso officially proclaimed September 15 as “915 Day” in 2021, a designation meant to encourage community pride, support local businesses, and celebrate the region's telephone area code, according to 93.1 KISS FM. That date also falls on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, and September 15 was chosen because it marks the independence anniversaries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, followed by Mexico's Independence Day on September 16.
Chuco Relic's own name draws on that same borderland heritage. The nickname “El Chuco” for El Paso traces back to the 1930s and 1940s Pachuco subculture, when young Mexican Americans traveling to the city, in the phrase “Pa'l Chuco,” developed distinct zoot suit styles and slang, according to The Texas Observer. That history helps explain the store's choice of name.
A Market Inside a Bigger Trade Corridor
El Paso's economy is part of the broader Texas-Mexico border economy, as discussed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. This context gives added significance to small artisan markets that keep dollars circulating among local makers.
For Sunday's event, that means shoppers browsing booths for handmade soap, apothecary goods, and jewelry are also participating in a broader borderland economic pattern, one where micro-enterprises anchor a market that stretches into the billions. Admission remains free, and attendees can find food and live band performances at the event.
