28 Marketplace opens on North Miami Street

Retail store, kitchen market will help to launch new local businesses

WEST MILTON- The owners of 28 Marketplace are helping to breathe new life into the former Pearson House Restaurant location in downtown West Milton.

Featuring a retail space with items by local artisans and small businesses, as well as grab-and-go foods like sourdough bread, maple syrup and pies, the new marketplace on North Miami Street also serves as a small business incubator to help launch local small businesses.

“We have over 30 businesses there,” 28 Marketplace co-owner Diane Kroplin said. “Our items are mainly artisans, makers, and lifestyle shops.”

Artisans and small businesses can apply to rent space in the marketplace, ranging from small shelf spaces to larger areas.

“We are not like a flea market or an antique mall,” Kroplin said. “We’re a business incubator, so our goal is to have real estate where small businesses can come in and have an affordable space where they can start or grow their existing business.”

“These are real retail businesses, so there’s a little bit of a more upscale feel, but we still have all price ranges,” she said. “We don’t take any commission off of the sales; we provide the point of sale and the store manager, so that business owners can even work a day job and not have to come in every day and be with their business.”

In addition to retail space, 28 Marketplace also features a kitchen market with grab-and-go food items, and a special event room that can be reserved through the 28 Marketplace website.

“We do have a level II food license,” Kroplin said. “We can’t cook there, but we can sell food there, and we will be able to eat food there in the marketplace.”

“We are looking for a food vendor for lunches and things like that,” she said. “Right now, we have things like sourdough, we have macaroons and pies, and we have maple syrup.”

The market is also currently accepting new businesses or artisans in search of retail space.

“We have very little space left, but we are taking new businesses,” Kroplin said. “We will have a wait list if they need a very large space, but we do still have some very small spaces available.”

Kroplin co-owns 28 Marketplace with her husband, Mark Kroplin, who previously operated Kroplin Jeweler in the building’s southside space, and has owned the building since 1984. The building has been in the Kroplin family since 1965, she said.

“The Pearson House Restaurant was in the main part of the hotel for 41 years, and my husband’s jewelry store was in the space on the south side for 41 years,” Kroplin said. “They both retired, and now the building is all ours to find a new use.”

“As we tried to rent spaces, we found out that small businesses could not afford to rent a whole room or a whole space,” she said. “We found out what they really needed was help on rental space so they could get started, so we’re keeping the costs low and letting them grow as big as they can by starting small.”

“Our second goal, besides supporting businesses, is supporting our town,” she said. “We want people to have a reason to come to West Milton and shop and be entertained.”

28 Marketplace held a soft opening on Wednesday, Oct. 15, and members of the local non-profit group Project Revival hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the market’s grand opening on Saturday, Oct. 18.

The marketplace is currently open Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

“We’ll have extra hours for the holidays,” Kroplin said. “The Shoppes of West Milton are having their annual Open House weekend; we’ll start opening on Sundays from then through Christmas.”

More information can be found online through Facebook, or the 28 Marketplace website at www.sites.google.com/kroplinproperties.com/28-marketplace/home.