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Amy B

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Looking for food entrepreneurs in the south end

by Amy B » Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:18 pm

So I belong to a local neighborhood association FB page and saw this posted. I immediately thought about posting this here. I have gotten their permission to do so.

"Hello Beechmonters. My wife, Terri Burt, and I recently purchased the small building at 343 W. Kenwood Way (formerly the Mane Attraction). We have been living in the South now for about 3 years, and feel very strongly that we need food. More food. So we are looking for Food Entrepreneurs who are seeking brick and mortar to exercise their passion. If you know of a Food Truckie or an established Restauranteur who is looking at the Southend as an opportunity to expand, please connect us. Also, we would love your input: what would you love to see open in your neighborhood? Cheers" - Patrick Donley

You can email Patrick Donley at patrickdonley@mac.com
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Robin Garr

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Re: Looking for food entrepreneurs in the south end

by Robin Garr » Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:21 pm

Thanks for posting, Amy! This might be a great opportunity for someone here. I'll copy it to the HotBytes Facebook page, too.
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Bill Veneman

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Re: Looking for food entrepreneurs in the south end

by Bill Veneman » Sat Jul 26, 2014 5:20 pm

I have long felt that the Southern part of Louisville, and it's Western brother have been lacking in food(ie) establishments. On another thread in this forum, there was discussion on the Eaterly concept, and it wound into a discussion on PROPER Farmer's Market. The crux of my post follows:

...., the 'under one roof' Farmers Market concept has proven successful and profitable in practice. I will elaborate on this since I was blessed to be a Nashville resident when the Farmers Market moved from it's old shed local to it present, city owned and operated (under the State Fair Board I believe).

I have a couple of thoughts on this:

First, it was a huge piece of the puzzle of a revitalization of a rather rundown and 'tawdry' area of town, just north of city center. The renovation of the Germantown neighborhood (which had been underway for some years), and development of MetroCenter, and other changes in the old "Bottoms" area (which was built on the old city dump) were also key in this development. It has not happened without controversy nor neighborhood resistance, however, the end result is incredible. On a recent trip to Nashville, I was very pleased when I went there to see that a lot of my favorite vendors from my Nashville days were still established in the rentable stalls, and was able to get some of their delicious wares to bring home with me.

Secondly, with the renewed interest in the Portland area, the abundance of "reusable" land in the area, and the like, it occurs to me that we are in a classic setup for such a development on an equal, or maybe more grand scale. Louisville is defiantly a foodie town. Many of the top chefs in town utilize the fact that we are a UPS hub, hence we have availability to the freshest foods in better timeframes than many major markets. Some enterprising soul could play off of this fact as well and have a really fresh delivery market for the masses and make the "at home foodie" very happy, as well as local fare in a modern, comfortable and central location, plus assist in the redevelopment of the area.

Nashville, and it's surrounding areas (Franklin, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville, etc.) have all looked at, and established redevelopment and reuse projects with great success. Louisville has a few good starts that are going towards the central and more east part of town (Mellwood, NuLu, Bardstown Road, Frankfort Avenue, The Highlands to name a few off the top of my head.

When I lived in Nashville, my office just on the other side of the river from the Market, so I would go by there several times during the course of the week. In the beginning, it was a bit of a Hodgepodge of vendors "trying the waters", but over time, the tried and true have stuck it out. By the time I left Nashville in 2003, it was starting to come into it's own. It now has a fish market, butcher, ethnic grocery, and several other shops that cater to all sorts of different tastes. During the spring, it's the only place to go and get plants and foliage for the home garden, as well as in season vegetables. I miss my trips to the market in the afternoons, and my interactions with the vendors. It gave me reminders of a old fashioned village market of days gone by where you knew what you were getting, where it came from, and the pride of what was being sold.

I would be thrilled if some enterprising soul would take on this task. Louisville needs this badly!
###

Now, Louisville is a Foodie town; there is no argument on that. We enjoy a hugely diverse base of fine dining at very competitive and, by comparable city standards, pricing. We're lucky, no argument. Can we be better? Yes. And a full fledged, state of the art, properly run, Farmer's Market as a central hub for freshness is key to this ongoing success!

In all fairness, this is not a small undertaking that can happen overnight. The success of the smaller neighborhood Farmers Markets has shown that we're hungry (no pun intended) for more.

Louisville needs to moving forward and take the example of Nashville and run with it. We have the interest, space, and general "get it doneness" to get this going and running right.

Stepping of my soapbox for now.
If life's a Banquet, what's with all the Tofu?

Cheers!

Bill V.
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Mark R.

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Re: Looking for food entrepreneurs in the south end

by Mark R. » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:35 pm

Now we could just get Metro government interested in the project like they did in Nashville! The fair board would probably be more than glad to have it at the fairgrounds so they could collect their ridiculously high $8 for parking every time somebody visited. :roll:
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RonnieD

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Re: Looking for food entrepreneurs in the south end

by RonnieD » Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:58 pm

With everyone trained to go to the East End for these kinds of things, will they make the commute to the (Upper) South End for it? Is there enough interest/disposable income in the (Upper) South End alone to support this kind of venture? I know Preston Highway south of Outer Loop has seen some growth, but this is talking more about the Shively area just outside the Watterson.

I love the idea of expanding in those directions, but it has to be self supporting if it has a chance to live on its own.
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