John Basalyga’s latest vision for transforming the Scranton Public Market inside the Marketplace at Steamtown involves an incubator program targeting entrepreneurs.
Cristin Powers — hired by Basalyga to manage the market and serve as a consultant — started hosting pop-up events in the space on the second floor last year, including a clothing swap in August, a crop swap in September, a Harvest Fest in October, and holiday-themed markets in November and December.
“The pop-ups helped us connect with more local entrepreneurs as well as customers,” Powers said. “Bringing the energy back into Scranton Public Market, we felt the natural next move was to focus on getting a few more anchor businesses in the space to really provide a hub or central location downtown for food and beverage, and continue with the pop-up markets to keep things exciting and continue connecting with more small-business owners and eventgoers.”
Powers noted the initial goal is to attract about six new tenants for the space through the new initiative.
“We decided to take it one step further by creating an incubator program to foster growth and provide stability for these small-business owners who are accepted,” she said. “There will be a multistep application process to maintain the integrity and sustainability of the brand at the Scranton Public Market. We will provide discounted rent for the first year and marketing support for these businesses. We’re looking to connect with entrepreneurs who would like to start a business like a bakery, sandwich shop, and grocery or other quick-service type establishments.”
Businesses like florists and retail will also be considered, but spots are limited, Powers added.
“My goal is to utilize this beautiful space that we’ve had downtown and make it a really vibrant hub,” she said. “The response has been so positive and overwhelming with people on board. I think everyone is inspired from attending the pop-ups.”
A rendering of a potential new business idea through the incubator program at the Scranton Public Market inside the Marketplace at Steamtown. (COURTESY CRISTIN POWERS)
Building off last year’s successful pop-up events, Powers plans to hold The Big Thrift & Vintage Market on March 21 from noon to 5 p.m., an Earth Day event in April, and an “Office”-themed market in May, coinciding with The Office 5K race.
Current vendors in the market include Ruano’s Pizza & Pasta, Saigon Corner, Taste of Luv, Amori Sushi, Betty Bar’s and Grill, K-Kitchen, Uncle Bill’s BBQ and Dottie’s Hats.
Basalyga always saw the space as a place where many vendors could coexist for the common good.
“I always thought of that public market as like a Reading Terminal where a lot of little businesses could get in there and their success would be created by multiple vendors,” he said. “They would kind of feed off each other and become one large tenant. Over the years, we got hit with a couple challenges, and it just kind of kept breaking apart.”
Basalyga — who owns the Marketplace at Steamtown — called upon Powers’ connection with the small-business community to bring in more entrepreneurs.
“She knows a lot of these smaller-type vendors and she’s kind of rallying them back together,” he said. “We want to get people in there who have startups or want to take their existing thing and grow it a little bit bigger. We’re just trying to spur growth and bring more business downtown and we have a great space to do it. It will be like an economic engine that really could be cool and something that nobody else has.”