A new North Market location in Dublin offers foodie fans a new adventure. The 30,000-square-foot location recently opened in the suburb’s Bridge Street District.
"It's obviously a much more modern version than we have downtown,” says Rick Wolfe, North Market's executive director. “It's a new build. But we pay homage to the original market with some items down there. But we didn't want to obviously recreate downtown."
The Bridge Park location opened for limited hours on November 5 and includes only four tenants so far. Three of those offer food and drinks: Coastal Local Seafood, Dos Hermanos and Market Bar. The other tenant is Reuse Revolution, which focuses on raising environmental consciousness through sustainable products.
“I’m glad that it worked out this way, because honestly, being full right now, it would be very difficult to manage,” Wolfe says. “It’s good news, it’s a limited preview and sort of a slow-roll to get everyone open during this time.”
Wolfe says the original North Market continued to operate as an essential business during the state's shutdown order in March, as the pandemic took off in Ohio. Safety measures there took effect right away.
“We had a mask policy mandate prior to the state or the city even having one,” Wolfe says. “So I believe we’ve been ahead of that.
However, Wolfe says the pandemic brought economic challenges for some merchants who had signed on to moving into North Market's second location, forcing them to drop out of the development.
Wolfe says the businesses joining the new location have built-in options to help them operate during the pandemic.
“Many of the merchants have indoor/outdoor serving ability with walls that serve to the outside,” Wolfe says. “Two of them have full garage doors that lift up. We have great patio attached to the market."
Wolfe adds his organization is ready to offer more entrepreneurial opportunities.
"Being a non-profit, the mission is to incubate and support local, independent business, and we have 19 spaces to do more of that up there,” Wolfe says. “There’s no shortage of space for people to shop and come and go.”
More vendors are slated to open at North Market Bridge Park in the coming months, including Bake Me Happy, BREaD Bakery and Café, the Pit BBQ Grille, and Hoyo's Sambusas & Juices.
