Colorful flags and cheerful lights line the ceiling at the Public Market at Columbia River Warehouse, a former Welch’s juice factory in downtown Kennewick that’s filled with old cars, quirky decor and the sound of music.

But on a recent afternoon in late August, the Tri-Cities’ first indoor market was quiet, with more than a dozen vendor stalls empty and a handful of visitors wandering the aisles at 10 E. Bruneau Ave.

Even the Kennewick Farmers Market, formerly co-located outside of the warehouse space, did not operate this year.

But change is coming.

After nearly a year under the direction of a management company, program manager Kelsey Bitton, who helped launch the market in 2022, is taking the reins again, along with Paul Robinson, director of operations.

They bring a renewed vision for the market that opened in 2022 with a focus on making space for the community, including a new commercial kitchen for vendors and others to cook up flavorful bites.

Incubator space

Ice Harbor Brewery anchors the market, and about 22 vendors currently occupy the space, which was originally built to support 70 vendors. 

Some vendors take up more than one stall with other areas used for community spaces, like a small kids zone. 

While Robinson said the market has been doing fairly well, “refilling the spots at this point in time (is) a little difficult with the flat economy the way it is,” he said. “This last couple of years, with the high inflation and things of that nature, kind of left people holding on a little bit about trying what their business ideas are.”

But the empty vendor stalls aren’t necessarily a bad thing, said Adelita Ramirez, manager for the public market.

The public market is intended to be a sort of business incubator. Ramirez said the market provides their “first storefronts.” 

Some vendors have been there for the three years the market has been open, but others have moved on to more permanent locations. 

To that end, the market offers month-to-month or three-month leases. Robinson said that businesses can continue leasing in three-month chunks, but there’s freedom for the vendors if the perfect building comes up and it’s time for them to expand. 

One vendor, Granny Annie’s Kitchen Creations, left the market in August to set up shop in a storefront at 108 1/2 Vista Way in Kennewick. 

For mother-and-daughter duo Clara Watanabe and Tina Thompson, the market has provided stability. While their business, Tinker Junction, has been around for years, it’s been a lot of work doing pop-ups and continuously setting up, tearing down and figuring out where to store their wares. Watanabe creates beaded jewelry and Thompson stitches together thrifted flannels and T-shirts to make unique fashion pieces. 

The owners said it’s been a little slow in their first month and a half, but they like the space, which has room to expand if they need it. 

Tina Thompson, left, and Clara Watanabe, run Tinker Junction, which just set up in the public market this summer. The space has provided them stability after years of doing pop-up events and gives them room to expand if they want to.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

Food focus

Bitton said she and Robinson would like to attract more restaurants to the market, as they’ve noticed food vendors are doing better than retail.

That’s part of what prompted the addition of a commercial kitchen in one corner of the market. It launched in early September with all-new ovens, smokers, deep fryers, slicers, work stations, a walk-in refrigerator, freezers, dry storage and more. 

Robinson said they’ve invested more than $100,000 in the kitchen, which will be available for use to caterers, food trucks and the market’s own food vendors. 

The owners at Antojos 509, a Venezuelan restaurant that’s been at the market for three years, plan to use the kitchen.

The restaurant offers desserts, breakfast, lunch, bread and coffee, but Eryck Veliz, an owner along with his family members, said they would like to have more options, which is only possible with a commercial kitchen.

The market has been the Venezuelan eatery’s first and only location. “It’s a good place for us,” Veliz said, noting that they often have repeat customers return specifically for their food. 

The Public Market Premier Kitchen is listed on The Kitchen Door, a website listing commercial kitchen spaces, with pricing and amenities information. 

In addition to supporting food vendors inside and outside of the market, Bitton said they also plan on creating rentable event spaces around the market for birthdays, baby showers and more. Anyone renting those spaces who is looking for catering can also rely on the kitchen. 

Antojos 509, run by Eryck Veliz, left, Gustavo Veliz, Isabel Guzman and Aryoly Rojas, got its start at the public market three years ago. The restaurant offers Venezuelan dishes, and is planning to use the public market’s new commercial kitchen in order to make food with a fume hood.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

Farmers market

Customers didn’t find any produce at the public market this year. After the 2022 season, the Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership transferred ownership and operation of the weekly Kennewick Farmers Market to the public market, said Stephanie Button, executive director of HDKP.

Bitton said that with the transition from the management company this year around the time when the farmers market needed to be organized, “it just didn’t come together.”

Bitton said she hopes to start working on it earlier in the future. 

“Hopefully next year it will be successful,” she said.

Events and entertainment

The introduction of event spaces is one reason the empty vendor stalls aren’t too worrisome for the public market team. Bitton said they’re working to condense some spaces to open up more room because she’s seen an interest in more gathering places for the community.

The market also needs space for a Halloween haunt that will launch this fall. Robinson and Bitton are working with Kennewick-based It’s Alive Productions to bring the Halloween haunt to the market, where they hope to see about 60,000 people through the month of October.

There’s talk about adding more events and putting in go-karts in the future.

Robinson, who’s worked in hospitality for many years, said he’s the one who’s been pushing for the market to become more of an entertainment-oriented venue. 

“I feel that this town provides a ton of things to do for young children. It does not provide a lot to do for the 14- to 28-year-olds,” he said. Finding multi-generational activities helps give people something to do. 

The grand opening of the commercial kitchen, along with the launch of the haunt event, marks a fresh start for the market, helping to steer it in a new direction after the previous management fell short on delivering on the owners’ vision.

“We’re wanting that place to be successful,” Bitton said. “We’re wanting our vendors to be successful and the events to be successful, and want the community to show up and support these small business owners again.”

Go to: publicmarketcrw.com.