By james art 
Public Market Reno opened openings in January 2023 after several years of work and heavy construction to turn the old shopping mall of old buyers into a modern public gathering spot.
Kindness in the public market Reno
The two -year anniversary of the Reno public market recently came and left, and although it was not exactly a smooth sailing for some vendors and retailers at the expansive food hall located in the corner of Plumb Lane and South Virginia Street, RPM Developer Doug Weile NNBW that the ship was upright and was back on a course.
Public Market Reno opened openings in January 2023 after several years of work and heavy construction to turn the old shopping mall of old buyers into a modern public gathering spot. When the concept was first launched, the development team rented a hospitality company to manage the grocery hall and manage the suppliers, but after the contract ended, the development group took over the management of the public market Reno.
“The last two years have been a great experience,” Weil told NNBW during an interview in the sunny area of the attic on the south of the turnover.
The space on the second floor was intended to be a restaurant when RPM first opened, but Weile said the bar could be a stronger option for nearly 7,000 square feet of space.
“It was an attempt to learn,” he added. “When we created this place, we did not intend to manage it ourselves – we hired a food operator. We are developers and this is a hospitality business; This is not a real estate game. But the first year did not go the way we planned, so we took it over ourselves. “
This shift meant hiring staff and promoting Kyle Denning of culinary director and general manager Mike Mc Milen has made the programming of events and hosts a stable sheet of community centers, Wil said. It also meant that vendors and retailers would benefit from an operator who was deeply invested in the success of the project.
“The second year was a training curve for us,” Wil said. “It was much better than it was. There was some turnover, but we expected it. “
While a handful of suppliers and food concepts have come and go for the first two years, concepts like Burger NV, Main Vein Coffee Co. And Los Cipotes have proven and have been successful from the beginning, Dening said. Others, such as Dopo Pizza & Pasta, and more new concepts managed by experienced operators, have not been among the first wave of suppliers, but since then they have cemented their status of favorites among the locals in the public market Reno.
The food hall is designed as a concept of rollover, noted Weil. Sellers do not have to skip the many hoops needed to open breakfast restaurants in an independent place. In RPM, all they need is a health department.
“This makes it financially easy for someone who just starts,” Wil said. “Everything is here for them.”
There are currently 13 food suppliers on the public market Reno. Junkee’s clothing exchange has hired 13,000 square feet from the north side of the building and soon, Weile noted, and Fiftyfifty Brewing Co. will open. Fiftyfifty was the first leasing signed in RPM, said that Wale, who was expecting the brewer and pub found in Truki, to open within the next 60 days.
“This is the next big step (for the speed),” Wil said. “Fiftyfifty is an anchor tenant and the most successful food halls in the whole country and those we are modeled with after conducting a full-service food and drum surgery as a partner.”
The landing of a well -established retailer like Junkee was a coup for RPM, Weile admitted. Junkee owner Jessica Schneider told NNBW in April 2023 that she was unable to make a deal to buy the building in Midtown, which houses her store since 2008, so she has moved to the public market of Reno.
“We initially thought we would cooperate in this space, but Juni was a great addition,” Wil said. “He likes all ages and cultures, he has a huge studies that is not only the locals and they all pass through the food hall to get to the juni.”
Weil admits that there is still a job that has to do in addition to opening the brewery and puts a second anchor tenant in the upper floor space. The west side of the food hall was intended as a retail destination, and a series of tenants came and left. Only one of the six stores for a total of 7000 square feet is currently occupied.
“We have broadly erupted in the first year,” Wil said. “But we’re not ready yet. This is a job in progress and we are significantly more stable than we were in our first year. “