When Ybor Daily Market opens its doors to East Seventh Avenue the second or third week of January, founders Cassie and Scott Bookamer, who are involved in the region's budding "makers" scene (those people who craft your favorite local goods), want it to become a hub for locals.
The wife-and-husband team showcases their small-batch cookie biz, Cassie's Cookies, at spots like New Port Richey's M.O.M's Friday Night Market and the Ybor City Saturday Market. But launching a mixed-used market space of their own, which was unexpected (more on that later), is a new venture for the pair.
In a roughly 15,000- to 16,000-square-foot building at 1920 E. Seventh Ave., where Frankie's Patio and nightclubs came and went, Ybor Daily will have a lot goin' on.
Monday through Friday (the market will debut in phases, and won't operate on weekends from the get-go), rotating local purveyors will showcase items like produce, jewelry and art, inside and out. Cassie told CL last week that she's looking for more vendors, including farms to source fresh milk, eggs and meat from.
A retail area for sellers like the Tampa Bay Etsy Crew and a shared bar with beverages from Tampa's Java Planet and Urban Tea Gardens are planned for the interior. Patrons will be able to satisfy their caffeine fixes during non-market hours, too.
"We'd like [the tea and coffee bar] to catch morning business and HCC traffic," Cassie said.
Outside, the ground floor's open-air patio will feature Clementine Café and, potentially, urban gardens from the Tampa Eden Project.
Ultimately, though, the Bookamers will tailor Ybor Daily to the locals. Cassie said she and Scott are open to letting it transform into what people want ("every community has different needs").
Cassie described the market opportunity as "out of the blue," but not outside the couple's vision. She said someone recommended her and Scott to the building's owners, who were looking to open something different, something community-focused. The Bookamers are leasing the space for a year to start.
After the founders reached out to businesses for their experiences and advice, Cassie said, other folks — from Ybor to Seminole Heights — started asking how they could help. She said she'd like to bring in area artists to make the market look more inviting, and mentioned having a mural painted on a back wall, near the retail section.
Ybor's identity is changing, according to Cassie, who said more community-based projects are what the city needs.
"It isn't about making money," she said. "It's about making a space people can enjoy."
This article appears in Dec 25-31, 2014.