With spring on the horizon, I’m already planning trips to some of my favorite seasonal events that feature shopping. The list is long. There’s the standout plant and garden antiques sale (and Martha Stewart sighting opportunity), Trade Secrets in Falls Village, Connecticut, on May 17 and 18. From summer rose bushes to ceramic planters, it’s going to be more than I can carry.
One day (goals!) I’ll make it to Brimfield or Round Top. But this year I’m definitely planning on heading to the Ticking Tent, an artisan and decor fair founded by my Elle Decor colleague, market director Benjamin Reynaert, with his partner Christina Juarez, that is popping up in New Preston, Connecticut on May 2 and 3. The last time I went my arms were overloaded with fresh flower bouquets, rechargeable lamps from Pooky Lighting, and ceramics by Studio Vuono. At least my palm-tree-leaf sunhat from Sarah Bray Bermuda fit on my head!
You get the point: I’m always shlepping something, although it’s usually groceries on a Trader Joe’s run in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. I think it was at my local farmer’s market that I first spotted the eye-catching trolley bag, the Hulken, usually on the arms of a local hipster. While I could carry only so many apples, these big Hulk people seemed to have no weight limits on their purchases. And the Hulken’s metallic finishes have a NASA vibe that somehow makes shopping feel high-tech.
I Googled it, of course, and discovered that these rolling bags come from the land known for its precision engineering: Hulken is a Swiss company that manufactures in the E.U. They’re made of water-resistant polypropylene and iron steel wheels, and the medium size that I got can tote up to 66 pounds (for reference, a small palm tree in a pot will usually weigh up to 12 pounds). Unlike my rusted hardware store trolley with its wobbly wheels, this foldable thing looks bulletproof (although time will tell) with the added bonus that it is light-weight and easy to store. And while $105 for the medium size is definitely an investment, the money I’ll save on emergency Ubers (and chiropractors from overdoing it) will more than make up for the price.
The Hulken comes in several glossy and metallic hues, but I went for the Ultraviolet—a color that will be easy to spot when I park it on the fair grounds during coffee breaks, with the added bonus of sounding like an Andy Warhol Superstar. Now it’s time to fill ‘er up and get rolling.
Ingrid Abramovitch, the Executive Editor at ELLE Decor, writes about design, architecture, renovation, and lifestyle, and is the author of several books on design including Restoring a House in the City.
