Bakery, boutique to join Harrisburg’s evolving 518 Marketplace
Sept. 18, 2019
New businesses and other changes are coming to the 518 Marketplace in Harrisburg.
A bakery that started in Pipestone, Minn., is taking over the coffee shop space, and a boutique featuring styles for “women who are a little older” is opening.
Sassy Cakes & Coffee and Something for Me are joining the also new BluMoon Designs, the expanded White Barn Charm and the original business that started it all, Emer-GenZ Eats & Treats.
Pam Harris, founder of the marketplace at 518 N. Cliff Ave. and owner of Emer-GenZ, calls the new and old tenants “the perfect mix of people and product.”
Her family-style prepared-meal business has grown so much since she started it in March 2018 that she’s planning to also use the kitchen in the nearby Air Madness Trampoline Park building. Customers will continue to pick up the meals in the marketplace, which opened in late October last year.
Sassy Cakes & Coffee will replace Gravel Road Blend, one of the original tenants. Coffee shop owner Shanon Abrahamson said she is working on a transition plan and hopes to focus on making her keto-friendly to-go meals, which turned into a popular product. Abrahamson envisions continuing to sell them out of the marketplace.
She’ll likely keep the coffee shop open until Sassy Cakes owner Ashly Nordmeyer is ready to move in.
Nordmeyer started her business as Sassy Cakes by Ashly in February 2018 out of her home and grew into a commercial kitchen in Lake Benton, Minn. She has been selling her specialty cupcakes out of the Lake Benton Resort and Pipestone Floral and taking special orders for decorated cakes. This summer, she added a trailer to do mobile sales at special events.
“My whole goal was to get over to the Sioux Falls area.”
Initially, she thought she’d be replacing the vacancy created when the owner of Not Just Cupcakes by Jen, another original tenant, took over a cafe in Hawarden, Iowa. Harris later asked if she’d be interested in replacing Gravel Road Blend too, and Nordmeyer jumped at the opportunity.
“I love coffee and cupcakes,” Nordmeyer said. She’ll also provide a light breakfast and lunch.
“I love to cook, so I think I can throw something together for sure.”
She’s expecting to open by Nov. 1.
The other new business, Something for Me, is owned by Lisa Coit.
“It’s for women a little older,” Coit said. “A lot of boutiques are for younger women, more trendy stuff. … This will be quality ponte pants, jackets, sweaters, nice knit pants and jeans – not stuff that you wear a couple of times and throw it away.”
Something for Me will carry sizes from extra small to plus, with generous cuts and giving material, said Coit, who worked as a teacher for a couple of decades and has worked in retail, including time at Chico’s and Forget Me Not Gift Boutique.
“I’m catering to that (older) age group, but there’s a lot of cute stuff that I would have bought in my 30s.”
She’s working with vendors who make pieces to order.
“It’s things you’re not going to find anywhere else.”
While the marketplace features a central cash register, Coit plans to be in the shop frequently.
“I’m going to be there a lot so I can help women if they want to mix and match, have me help style outfits. I want to provide one-on-one attention.”
She’ll have about half of her inventory available at the marketplace’s Fall Festival on Saturday but will put it back in storage until her grand opening Oct. 3-5.
At the Fall Festival, which runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the newly expanded White Barn Charm will offer a make-and-take project. For $18, participants can choose from one of two fall themes to paint with stencils on an 8-inch-by-8-inch wooden board. They can register for the project on the shop’s Facebook page.
Owner Sarah Manthey had added more signs to her inventory of home decor.
“I have custom Harrisburg signs, South Dakota signs, Tiger signs for the school. … I’m expanding into getting more giftable items, too, for the holiday season coming up.”
Manthey, who started her business out of her rural Harrisburg home in 2015, still does custom furniture painting out of the workshop there.
Her former corner in the marketplace is now home to BluMoon Designs.
Jewelry artist Amy Balster started moving products from other local makers into the space earlier this month and plans to add her jewelry this week in time for the Fall Festival.
