Welcome to The 52nd Street Market.
The 52nd Street Market, LLC will serve as a one stop shop for grocery staples, fresh produce and prepared foods. Brewed coffee, limited seating and free wi-fi for customers will also be be available. We hope our market will provide a much needed venue to get to know your neighbors. Because we wholeheartedly believe in contributing to the health of the community, we will not sell tobacco products or lottery.
The market is located on the corner of 52nd and Holmes Streets in Upper Lawrenceville, easily accessible from Butler Street and Stanton Avenue. We look forward to serving individuals who live and work in the Lawrenceville, Stanton Heights and Morningside neighborhoods! Once successful, we hope to make our model available to other neighborhoods interested in establishing a fresh retail community corner store.
Who We Are.
Opening The 52nd Street Market has been the work of Deirdre Kane and Dora Walmsley, we’re two residents of Upper Lawrenceville who want to ensure this rapidly revitalizing neighborhood maintains its local charm. We hope to accomplish this by providing opportunities for residents through employment, education and good, healthy food.
In Our Words.
Hi, I’m Deirdre, a Lawrenceville native. I began to more fully invest in the community by participating in Lawrenceville United’s monthly clean ups. My volunteering expanded into joining committees to get more directly involved in the transformation of the neighborhood. In 2009, I was voted onto the Board of Lawrenceville United and remain an active Board Member today. It was my involvement in the community which lead directly to the creation of The 52nd Street Market. I decided Lawrenceville was not only going to be my home, but my future. I really want to be a part of the neighborhood fabric!
Hiya, I’m Dora, a transplant who grew up north of Pittsburgh. I’ve lived in Lawrenceville since 2008 and, most recently, purchased my first home just a few blocks from what soon will be The 52nd Street Market. While moving into the neighborhood I recall a roofer, working nearby, calling down and welcoming me to the neighborhood. This sense of community and willingness to know your neighbors is what drew me in and left me wanting to do more. Since then, I’ve volunteered with numerous community groups and was recently elected onto the Board of Directors for Lawrenceville United.
Together, we have 25 years of restaurant industry and food service experience. Our experience and knowledge will inform food preparation, inventory management and stellar customer service. We also know nothing is created in a vacuum and have derived much of our business plan from community meetings, surveys and many professional mentors who have graced us with their time and expertise. As an employee at Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, Dora works directly with food insecurity and equitable access to food. In addition to providing a convenient location for neighbors to get their grocery basics, The 52nd Street Market hopes to also make healthy food accessible, affordable and inclusive. Deirdre, has worked at Highmark for the past 15 years and is working to connect community health to community assets. We believe that a neighborhood can provide all the resources and support needed to make families and individuals successful. The 52nd Street Market will serve its part by providing healthy food options and a platform to get to know your neighbors.
Why Do This.
As ‘accidental entrepreneurs’ neither one of us had envisioned running a community corner store as part of our future. When the opportunity presented itself however, the momentum, passion, and commitment was there and it just felt right. We feel we have the skill sets and ability to make The 52nd Street Market a viable business. However, starting a business requires a significant amount of capital and your contributions will provide critical start-up funds. We have invested a substantial amount of time and personal money, and now are asking for your support. We hope, by doing so, you’ll feel personally invested in our success and the success of the neighborhood.
What We’re Asking For.
We’re bargain hunters by nature and have worked tirelessly to keep costs and our environmental impact low. The building owner has also worked with us to build out the space, provide the use of existing coolers and has agreed to a graduated lease - all at no additional cost to us. We’re still in need of substantial start-up funds and look to raise $50,000 which will be used to purchase start-up inventory, equipment and an additional cooler to store deli meats (A must have as expressed by over 100 residents!). To also help keep initial costs low, we are keeping our full-time jobs and will employ a full and part time local residents to run The Market during daylight hours. These funds will guarantee those salaries.
Funds will go towards purchasing:
Initial inventory and inventory purchase reserve
Equipment including point of sales system, refurbished refrigeration units, coffee brewing system and coffee grinder, scales, meat slicer .
Furniture including seating, shelving storage, counter tops and food prep space.
6 Month salary reserve for employees
In Addition to Our Deepest Thanks...
We think we’ve put together some pretty awesome incentives in exchange for your contribution. We plan to offer a variation of all of these items at The 52nd Street Market however, what you get here will be limited to this campaign. Picture this, your co-worker is super jealous of your vintage milk bottle looking water bottle and wants to know where he/she can score one. Well, too bad for them, the answer is nowhere.
All items are safe to use and will feature the 52nd Street Market logo or 52nd Street Market Roosters on a Wire. Contributions of any level will receive our coffee punch card with the first coffee on us. For those contributing outside of the Greater Pittsburgh Area, we’ll send you our custom bumper sticker.
Items can be picked up by appointment (term used loosely) at The 52nd Street Market, or mailed via USPS. Please allow up to 30 days after the campaign has ended to receive your items. We realize this is kind of a long time to wait for your goods but thank you in advance for your patience. We’re two ladies trying to do a whole lot!
The Impact!
In short, your contribution will allow us to avoid the risks associated with taking out a loan. While this endeavor will hopefully provide a livelihood for us in the long term, we are acting on behalf of the community and are asking for your financial contribution in return. If successful, we hope our model can positively impact communities in Pittsburgh and beyond!
The support for this project has been overwhelming. In just a few short weeks, over 300 residents have responded to our community survey, voicing their well wishes and commitment to shopping at The 52nd Street Market. Numerous neighbors have contacted us inquiring about opportunities to sell their locally made goods and have offered various services at discounted or no cost to us. We can honestly tell you any amount contributed will be responsibly used in the most efficient and cost conscious way possible.
Other Ways You Can Help
These days we understand that discretionary funds are limited; so if you’re not able to contribute financially, you can still have a hand in our success. Please help get the word out by posting a link to our campaign in any and every capacity you can; Facebook, Twitter, reddit, and beyond. Every little plug helps and is just as much appreciated. Indiegogo also has some great sharing tools that makes this easy to do!
