The Market House carries on the vision of an in-town public market in Portland by providing a community gathering place that celebrates Maine people, food and agricultural traditions while joining the ongoing efforts to revitalize Portland’s downtown, incubating small businesses and involving the international community.
The mission of The Market House is several-fold. First and foremost, The Market House intends on providing an inner-city outlet for Maine food producers in the heart of Maine’s largest population center. The Market House has several others goals, however, including incubating small businesses just as the original vendors were incubated, helping the rejuvenation of downtown Portland and including the city’s diverse and vibrant international community that has grown through immigration in the past several decades. With the dominance of big box stores and internationally-owned supermarkets in today’s consumer world, the new public market will provide the people of Portland with an alternative shopping experience in which customers can purchase foods and other goods from small, local, owner-operated businesses, and even the farmers themselves.
The public market intends on incubating small businesses. Three out of the four vendors comprising Market Vendors, LLC were created and incubated in the Portland Public Market (Big Sky Bread Co. is the only exception). Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, and tend to be more energetic, enthusiastic and creative than larger, established, corporate-owned businesses and franchises. The owner is often present. Customer service tends to be better. These are primary reasons why the four members of Market vendors, LLC succeeded in the first place. Further, the grass roots nature of these small businesses appeals to consumers and adds to the atmosphere of a public market. So, not only is incubating businesses important as a goal in itself, this activity will also add to the appeal and attractiveness of the public market experience.
Specifically, the public market intends on creating a communal kitchen that can be used by potential vendors and day table sub-lessees. Many small business efforts, including many ethnic endeavors, involve prepared food. Often these small business ventures do not have access to a commercial kitchen. The public market plans on building in kitchen facilities that may be leased by vendors and day table sub-lessees. The kitchen users may purchase products from various market vendors and the farmers who participate in the farmers’ market. Along with the kitchen, the public market hopes to build some support facilities for the subtenants, farmers and the farmers’ market, potentially including dry and cold storage facilities.
The financial underpinning of The Market House, and Market Vendors, LLC, rests upon the financial strength of the four LLC members. Each business at this point is solvent and self-reliant. All four businesses have been operating for at least eight years and all have well-developed customer bases and credibility with consumers. The leasehold and rent structure has been negotiated by the LLC so that the four businesses can cover the rent and occupancy expenses split four ways as stand-alone endeavors merely sharing space. This creates a financial baseline upon which the operation can succeed without relying upon the greater public market aspirations. At the old Portland Public Market, the members were paying up to $36 a square foot in the Portland Public Market, and now are paying less than half that at The Market House. This reduction in overhead alone will help the sustainability and success of the new operation.
The Market House is managed by Market Vendors, LLC, consisting of the four original vendors, each of whom have a vote on the LLC’s governing board. The LLC is the tenant, and subleases to the four members as well as the other vendors and tenants in the market. The governing board operates on a democratic basis with majority votes determining business decisions, but with an effort to decide matters through consensus. This is in marked difference to how the Portland Public Market was operated, in which management decisions were made by the investment lawyers and trustees of the Libra Foundation, which built and owned the building. While the initial common expenses of the market will be shared by the four members of the LLC, through subleasing space and day tables to other vendors and tenants, it is expected that over time the LLC will generate revenue to cover common expenses such as marketing and advertising, maintenance and custodial care, security and trash removal.
