Paul Bass Photo
Elm City Open Air Market organizers Michelle Groom, Jacqueline James-Boyd, Janice Parker, and Valerie Brown at WNHH FM.
Start with an emerging home/cart/truck start-up culture. Add a pandemic brewing period. Throw in the emergence of pop-up culture. Find a lot the size of an arena right off I‑95 and I‑91.
Jacqueline James-Boyd and a group of fellow entrepreneurial-minded colleagues mixed together those ingredients. They cooked up what they hope will become a new tradition in New Haven: An “Elm City Open Air Market” where hundreds of vendors gather to promote their wares and build their businesses.
They’re launching their idea with an Elm City Open Air Market in the Sports Haven parking Lot at 600 Long Wharf on June 22 from noon to 8 p.m. At least 100 vendors from throughout the East Coast are expected at the first event hawking T‑shirts, pizza, wellness remedies … you name it. The organizers are looking to operate the market twice a month through November, then resume next March. (Call 203 – 676-9478 or emal JJames-Boyd@ctopenair.net for vendor application information.)
In addition to giving entrepreneurs a spot to seed their work, the organizers are looking to build a support network with advice for building new businesses and finding capital.
James-Boyd has experience doing that. As city government’s small business chief in the mid-aughts, she launched the Long Wharf food truck festival, ran a small business academy for start-ups, and organized a Women’s Empowerment Network.
She met some of her current Open Air Market co-organizers through that network. Three of the co-organizers and participants joined her on an episode of WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” to discuss the project: Valerie Brown, a serial food entrepreneur (most recently running Greens ’n Thangs on Whalley Avenue), who’s testing out a loaded baked-potato business idea at the market; Valerie Groom, who operates A Queen Cleaning service while building up a personal styling consultancy; and Janice Parker, who sells cleansing regimens and liquid multi-vitamins through a business called Health’s Our Wealth.
Click on the play arrow to watch them discuss The Elm City Open Air Market on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.” Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of “Dateline.”