In just under five years, the Downtown Phoenix Public Market has gone from a small, plucky farmers market to a bustling, thriving food event open two days week. Saturdays at the market are so popular that they've spilled into the street.
This fall, the market will get even bigger, with the debut of a full-service grocery store, complete with a coffee bar, wine bar and community kitchen. Officially dubbed the Downtown Phoenix Public Market Urban Grocery & Wine Bar, the store will be housed in the charming brick building behind the farmers market's current location at 1st St. and McKinley. The Wednesday and Saturday open-air market will continue as well.
Not only will this be the first grocery store in Phoenix stocked almost entirely with goods from local farmers, ranchers, and food artisans, it will also be the first time in years that a grocery store has opened up downtown. With a target opening in late September, shoppers will be able to buy local with a vengeance, five days a week, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Shoppers can expect locally sourced produce, milk, cheese, meat, baked goods, ice cream, jams, jellies, and other specialty items, including goods from all of the vendors currently at the farmers market. Local purveyors and food artisans get first crack, with the occasional out of state producer to fill in a gap. Take-away salads, soups, sandwiches will be available from the deli counter, and at happy hour, there will be nosh plates served with wines by the glass.
The Market's new, red-bricked home is nearly 4,000 square feet of recycled, reused building material, from the reclaimed bowling alley floors that will become counter tops, to the salvaged fixtures from Target. It's a charmer, that's for sure, and cute as a button.
Fans of the open-air farmers market will not be disappointed. And th market will still go on year round, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The Urban Grocery and Wine Bar will be more than just a grocery store. Stay tuned for tomorrow, when we take a peek at the coffee bar, the future wine bar, and community kitchen.
