This story is a part of the CBJ’s Newsmakers edition. This year-end wrap-up from the staff of the Corridor Business Journal is a compilation of the year’s most noteworthy articles and projects, as told through stories that appeared in the bi-weekly issues of the CBJ. This story was originally published in August 2022. The South […]
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This story is a part of the CBJ’s Newsmakers edition. This year-end wrap-up from the staff of the Corridor Business Journal is a compilation of the year’s most noteworthy articles and projects, as told through stories that appeared in the bi-weekly issues of the CBJ.
This story was originally published in August 2022.
The South District’s bustling Diversity Market in Iowa City — once hosting space for 30 vendors at the Kingdom Center before doubling in size at Pepperwood Plaza this summer — was inspired, in part, by a corkboard. “When I initially opened my store, I had a business corner that allowed other small businesses owners in the area to come out and put their business cards there,” said JD Beauty Supply Owner Tasha Lard, who opened her brick and mortar location in September 2020. “Angie Jordan’s daughter made me a corkboard then, and it’s still there right now.” Since then, Ms. Lard, Ms. Jordan and Marlén Mendoza have worked to promote local businesses on a much larger scale by drawing attention to an area thriving with creativity and entrepreneurial spirit but lacking a unifying force. “We want people to understand it’s fun and safe to come into the South District to shop with BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and people of color] members and to come out and support everyone involved,” Ms. Lard added. Their idea has exploded in popularity, with some vendors now sitting on a waitlist to join in the future. Ms. Lard expects the Diversity Market could expand in size once again to more than 90 vendors next year – triple the size of the market’s first summer. Construction is also already underway for a year-round, indoor market at Pepperwood Plaza, at the site of the former Slumberland furniture store, tentatively called The South District Market. The project, by real estate firm SouthGate Companies, calls for redeveloping the 39,000-square-foot building into a space for five vendors, a food court and an outdoor covered patio. The rest of the facility will hold rentable office space and self-storage units to make the project financially feasible, said Caleb Wilson, president of SouthGate Investment Properties.
The South District’s bustling Diversity Market in Iowa City — once hosting space for 30 vendors at the Kingdom Center before doubling in size at Pepperwood Plaza this summer — was inspired, in part, by a corkboard. “When I initially opened my store, I had a business corner that allowed other small businesses owners in the area to come out and put their business cards there,” said JD Beauty Supply Owner Tasha Lard, who opened her brick and mortar location in September 2020. “Angie Jordan’s daughter made me a corkboard then, and it’s still there right now.” Since then, Ms. Lard, Ms. Jordan and Marlén Mendoza have worked to promote local businesses on a much larger scale by drawing attention to an area thriving with creativity and entrepreneurial spirit but lacking a unifying force. “We want people to understand it’s fun and safe to come into the South District to shop with BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and people of color] members and to come out and support everyone involved,” Ms. Lard added. Their idea has exploded in popularity, with some vendors now sitting on a waitlist to join in the future. Ms. Lard expects the Diversity Market could expand in size once again to more than 90 vendors next year – triple the size of the market’s first summer. Construction is also already underway for a year-round, indoor market at Pepperwood Plaza, at the site of the former Slumberland furniture store, tentatively called The South District Market. The project, by real estate firm SouthGate Companies, calls for redeveloping the 39,000-square-foot building into a space for five vendors, a food court and an outdoor covered patio. The rest of the facility will hold rentable office space and self-storage units to make the project financially feasible, said Caleb Wilson, president of SouthGate Investment Properties.
