Photo: Dekalb Market
DeKalb Market, an outdoor community market in Downtown Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall, opened its doors on July 23, and business is already booming.
Plenty of things set this outdoor marketplace apart from the pack – like its eclectic collection of merchants and on-site incubator farm.
But what really makes DeKalb Market something special is that it’s recycled.
Vendors create art, sell products and operate eateries out of reclaimed shipping containers from New York and New Jersey.
The vendors all started with the same containers, but the market is far from cookie-cutter.
Merchants labored away in the weeks before the grand opening to customize the interior and exterior of their shipping units.
The result is a Tetris-like collection of brightly-colored units, each with its own spunk and personality.
Vendors are broken up into four broad categories – makers, artists, farmers and chefs. And shoppers looking for variety won’t be disappointed.
Shops vary from coffee houses to vintage clothing stores – and even a homemade pickle stand.
The one-acre lot also houses a farm and famers market, and the inner square becomes home to a temporary fair every weekend.
The market is a collaboration between Manhattan-based developer Youngwoo & Associates and Urban Space – a UK-based design team that’s been leading container construction for more than 30 years.
Other Urban Space container constructions you may know include Union Square Holiday Market in Manhattan and the famed Camden Lock in London.
DeKalb Market is currently home to 22 local businesses that have signed on for one year, and additional vendors set up temporary stands on weekends.
Continued growth is expected, and founders hope the market will prove to be not only an avenue for local commerce but also a community meeting place for residents of the neighborhood.
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