Specs of Area 506's Vendor Village (Image: Area 506)
Area 506 continues to set the stage for its permanent Vendor Village, located alongside the Marco Polo cruise ship terminal on Water Street, with last week’s opening of vendor applications.
Area 506 founder and chairperson, Ray Gracewood, says the plan is to house approximately 60 shipping containers, 20 of which are 40-foot retail containers that can be subdivided and modified into two retail spaces, for a total of 40 potential vendor spaces.
“There’s a lot of challenges for businesses to sort of take that next step and get into a permanent storefront, so we think that there’s good logic in creating a catalyst that is the kind of opportunity that’s attractive to certain businesses that are on the path towards growing,” said Gracewood.
Specs of Area 506’s Vendor Village (Image: Area 506)
Area 506’s goal is to have a strong food and beverage component to the village with national retailers open alongside local crafters and artists, creating a gallery environment in its “graffiti alley.”
They are also preparing the village’s underground infrastructure by tearing up the asphalt, running the electrical services and conduits, and doing the final paving and ground prep in the area around Water and Princess Streets.
Gracewood is currently holding information sessions with the Saint John Chamber of Commerce and Uptown Saint John. He’s also reaching out to vendors who previously set up outside the Marco Polo terminal.
Area 506’s Vendor Village (Image: Area 506)
“We wanted to position the opportunity to local businesses first, and those that we had sort of a prior relationship with,” he said, adding that they want to have at least a third of the vendor spaces occupied by local or New Brunswick-based companies. “We think that there’s a real line of sight for the container village to be a bit of an incubator program for businesses.”
The village would serve as an opportunity for online and expanding businesses looking to take the next step with a brick-and-mortar location, allowing them to take advantage of foot traffic from cruise chips and Saint John locals.
The village will open in spring 2022 and Gracewood hopes they will have a better idea of vendor interest by the end of November.
“We’re really interested to see the diversity of applications that come in and the groups, companies, and services that would express interest in setting up shop,” he said. “But it’s also driven by our strategy of what we think is going to make for a compelling and engaging retail environment.”
This story was originally published on Huddle.Today – an Acadia Broadcasting Limited content partner.
