April 17, 2006
Under one roof | Vendors want to recreate the all-but-dead Portland Public Market elsewhere
By Whit Richardson
In early February, Bill Milliken read a news report that the Portland Public Market, where Milliken co-owns Maine Beer & Beverage Co., was up for sale. The news hit Milliken hard, because only nine months earlier he had expanded his market location and began selling wine. And for all the talk of the market's lackluster sales, that expansion had so far been a success. "We're doing better than ever," Milliken says. "That's the shame."
But citing operating losses of $1 million a year, the Libra Foundation in February said it would sell the Portland Public Market and its parking garage as part of a divestment of its entire cache of seven downtown Portland properties, which primarily are office buildings. Because those properties are being marketed as a package, a buyer would have no obligation to maintain the public market in its current configuration, leaving vendors like Milliken to ponder an uncertain future.
In response, several of the vendors in February launched the "Save the Market" campaign ˆ complete with a website, a petition drive and a slogan, "What Would Betty Do?" in reference to Libra Foundation founder Elizabeth "Betty" Noyce ˆ to convince the foundation to alter its plans. The vendors asked Libra to sell the public market building separately from its other properties, thus making it more attractive for a buyer interested in maintaining its status.
By early April, though, supporters acknowledged that the campaign had failed ˆ and vendors now are preparing for life after the Portland Public Market. "The campaign to keep the building open as a public market is dead," Milliken says, "because the Libra Foundation has expressed zero interest in either doing it themselves or rearranging the real estate deal to allow that to happen."
Owen Wells, the Libra Foundation's president and CEO, says he has "never even seen the campaign" and has "never had a single communication regarding saving the public market." In addition, Wells insists the foundation maintains an interest in perpetuating the market, and would be supportive of a buyer who wished to keep it open. However, of the 90 potential buyers Wells says have stepped forward ahead of the April 12 deadline for bids, only one expressed interest in keeping the market open.
The market's vendors aren't sticking around to find out what happens, though. Some of the most successful of those vendors, including Portland Spice and Trading Co., the popular seafood restaurant Scales, and Maine's Pantry, have either already left the market or have plans to do so soon. But others, such as Maine Beer & Beverage, K. Horton's Specialty Foods, Breaking New Grounds, and A Country Bouquet, have developed plans to cooperatively open a new public market at a different, still unknown location. They hope their nonprofit market will succeed where the foundation's failed.
Back to basics
The market opened to great acclaim in October 1998. At the time, Maine Beer & Beverage was tucked into a small space between two concrete pillars. The business struggled at first and $300 days were normal, says Milliken. Since then, with the market acting as an incubator for small businesses like Maine Beer & Beverage, the store grew. Today, it brings in $2,000 to $3,000 per day, Milliken says, and he and his partner, Andrew Braceras, have tripled the store's size, adding more coolers and stocking more than just beverages.
Business for Milliken's landlord hasn't been quite so good: With annual operating costs of $1.2 million and vendors' rents ˆ which at $24 per square foot are about two to three times higher than their neighbors across Preble Street ˆ nowhere near sufficient to meet those costs, the foundation is ready to move on, according to Wells. "Anyone can criticize, and obviously they do," Wells says. "But we've been losing $1 million dollars a year on the market. And for the benefit of five or six vendors we can't sustain that."
Still, some vendors claim the market would work, but only if the Libra Foundation would get out of the way. A new owner could simply rent the space to a group of vendors in the form of a nonprofit, Milliken says, which for its part would cut management and marketing expenses to bring the market closer to sustainability.
That's the structure the former "Save the Market" vendors want to use at a new location. The new market would be run by a board, with the major vendors each having an equal vote in the decision-making process, says Milliken. That board would maintain what they say was Noyce's vision for the original market: supporting Maine's agricultural producers, providing a community-oriented space and acting as an incubator for small businesses by offering more flexible lease arrangements. "There'll be day tables and short-term rentals and we'll have other businesses come in under our umbrella and grow like that," says K. Horton's owner Kris Horton.
Horton says she has received a positive response from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association about the idea, and also hopes to secure assistance from Wiscasset-based Coastal Enterprises Inc. With help from CB Richard Ellis/The Boulos Co. ˆ at the direction of the Libra Foundation ˆ the vendors had visited several potential Portland locations for their new market by early April. The group hopes to negotiate a lease as soon as possible, Milliken says.
But other former Public Market vendors have no interest in starting over and are moving beyond the public market concept. Portland Spice and Trading Co., which grew from a day-table operation in 1999 into a successful, year-round business at the market, is expanding in a new location. "The sale here gives us a kick in the pants to do that," says Jessica Moore, co-owner of Portland Spice and Trading Co. "It could be the greatest thing to ever happen to our business."
The story is the same for other businesses in the market: The popular seafood restaurant Scales has already moved out and is looking for a new location. Maine's Pantry, the business former public market manager Ted Spitzer owns with his wife, is moving to a location on Commercial Street. "We have successful, viable businesses and we want to move on and be open in time for the summer," Spitzer says. "I think people are making very rational decisions by moving out, and it's extremely sad that there can't be an alternative."
But citing operating losses of $1 million a year, the Libra Foundation in February said it would sell the Portland Public Market and its parking garage as part of a divestment of its entire cache of seven downtown Portland properties, which primarily are office buildings. Because those properties are being marketed as a package, a buyer would have no obligation to maintain the public market in its current configuration, leaving vendors like Milliken to ponder an uncertain future.
In response, several of the vendors in February launched the "Save the Market" campaign ˆ complete with a website, a petition drive and a slogan, "What Would Betty Do?" in reference to Libra Foundation founder Elizabeth "Betty" Noyce ˆ to convince the foundation to alter its plans. The vendors asked Libra to sell the public market building separately from its other properties, thus making it more attractive for a buyer interested in maintaining its status.
By early April, though, supporters acknowledged that the campaign had failed ˆ and vendors now are preparing for life after the Portland Public Market. "The campaign to keep the building open as a public market is dead," Milliken says, "because the Libra Foundation has expressed zero interest in either doing it themselves or rearranging the real estate deal to allow that to happen."
Owen Wells, the Libra Foundation's president and CEO, says he has "never even seen the campaign" and has "never had a single communication regarding saving the public market." In addition, Wells insists the foundation maintains an interest in perpetuating the market, and would be supportive of a buyer who wished to keep it open. However, of the 90 potential buyers Wells says have stepped forward ahead of the April 12 deadline for bids, only one expressed interest in keeping the market open.
The market's vendors aren't sticking around to find out what happens, though. Some of the most successful of those vendors, including Portland Spice and Trading Co., the popular seafood restaurant Scales, and Maine's Pantry, have either already left the market or have plans to do so soon. But others, such as Maine Beer & Beverage, K. Horton's Specialty Foods, Breaking New Grounds, and A Country Bouquet, have developed plans to cooperatively open a new public market at a different, still unknown location. They hope their nonprofit market will succeed where the foundation's failed.
Back to basics
The market opened to great acclaim in October 1998. At the time, Maine Beer & Beverage was tucked into a small space between two concrete pillars. The business struggled at first and $300 days were normal, says Milliken. Since then, with the market acting as an incubator for small businesses like Maine Beer & Beverage, the store grew. Today, it brings in $2,000 to $3,000 per day, Milliken says, and he and his partner, Andrew Braceras, have tripled the store's size, adding more coolers and stocking more than just beverages.
Business for Milliken's landlord hasn't been quite so good: With annual operating costs of $1.2 million and vendors' rents ˆ which at $24 per square foot are about two to three times higher than their neighbors across Preble Street ˆ nowhere near sufficient to meet those costs, the foundation is ready to move on, according to Wells. "Anyone can criticize, and obviously they do," Wells says. "But we've been losing $1 million dollars a year on the market. And for the benefit of five or six vendors we can't sustain that."
Still, some vendors claim the market would work, but only if the Libra Foundation would get out of the way. A new owner could simply rent the space to a group of vendors in the form of a nonprofit, Milliken says, which for its part would cut management and marketing expenses to bring the market closer to sustainability.
That's the structure the former "Save the Market" vendors want to use at a new location. The new market would be run by a board, with the major vendors each having an equal vote in the decision-making process, says Milliken. That board would maintain what they say was Noyce's vision for the original market: supporting Maine's agricultural producers, providing a community-oriented space and acting as an incubator for small businesses by offering more flexible lease arrangements. "There'll be day tables and short-term rentals and we'll have other businesses come in under our umbrella and grow like that," says K. Horton's owner Kris Horton.
Horton says she has received a positive response from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association about the idea, and also hopes to secure assistance from Wiscasset-based Coastal Enterprises Inc. With help from CB Richard Ellis/The Boulos Co. ˆ at the direction of the Libra Foundation ˆ the vendors had visited several potential Portland locations for their new market by early April. The group hopes to negotiate a lease as soon as possible, Milliken says.
But other former Public Market vendors have no interest in starting over and are moving beyond the public market concept. Portland Spice and Trading Co., which grew from a day-table operation in 1999 into a successful, year-round business at the market, is expanding in a new location. "The sale here gives us a kick in the pants to do that," says Jessica Moore, co-owner of Portland Spice and Trading Co. "It could be the greatest thing to ever happen to our business."
The story is the same for other businesses in the market: The popular seafood restaurant Scales has already moved out and is looking for a new location. Maine's Pantry, the business former public market manager Ted Spitzer owns with his wife, is moving to a location on Commercial Street. "We have successful, viable businesses and we want to move on and be open in time for the summer," Spitzer says. "I think people are making very rational decisions by moving out, and it's extremely sad that there can't be an alternative."
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