(photo credit: https://www.loclmkt.com)
My Carroll Gardens friend Carolina made me aware of a brand new online community shopping service for Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens called Locl Mkt. If you live in the neighborhood, you should know about it as well.
Locl Mkt is a web site created by Mark Cooper and Sonja Kristofferson, who want to show support for our local shops, and help these amazing businesses thrive.
The idea is simple: each day Locl Mkt will feature fresh and seasonal items from some of our best purveyors.
I reached out to Mark and Sonja to ask what prompted them to start Locl Mkt and how they will grow the service.
According to Mark, "the idea for Locl Mkt was a reaction to a couple of things:
-all the boarded up shops on Smith St
-a concern that new people in the neighborhood were defaulting to Trader Joe's instead of delving into the expertise and quality goods that independent BoCoCa shops offer
Sonja and I like the idea of what shopping used to be in New York – people showing up at their butcher or veggie stand to find out what's fresh. Calling each other by name, and building relationships. We want to see if Locl Mkt can help bring more of that back.
As far as growing the service goes, we hope to build a decent following among the 50,000 people living in BoCoCa. From there, our plan is to try value-added site features, like being able to reserve items and getting items from multiple shops delivered. And we hope to develop special offers in conjunction with the shops we feature. If everything goes well, we might see if we can spread the service to other neighborhoods as well."
Locl Mkt is a web site created by Mark Cooper and Sonja Kristofferson, who want to show support for our local shops, and help these amazing businesses thrive.
The idea is simple: each day Locl Mkt will feature fresh and seasonal items from some of our best purveyors.
I reached out to Mark and Sonja to ask what prompted them to start Locl Mkt and how they will grow the service.
According to Mark, "the idea for Locl Mkt was a reaction to a couple of things:
-all the boarded up shops on Smith St
-a concern that new people in the neighborhood were defaulting to Trader Joe's instead of delving into the expertise and quality goods that independent BoCoCa shops offer
Sonja and I like the idea of what shopping used to be in New York – people showing up at their butcher or veggie stand to find out what's fresh. Calling each other by name, and building relationships. We want to see if Locl Mkt can help bring more of that back.
As far as growing the service goes, we hope to build a decent following among the 50,000 people living in BoCoCa. From there, our plan is to try value-added site features, like being able to reserve items and getting items from multiple shops delivered. And we hope to develop special offers in conjunction with the shops we feature. If everything goes well, we might see if we can spread the service to other neighborhoods as well."
Bien Cuit, Heights Chateau, Dellapietras, Caputo's Fine Foods, Staubitz, and Shelsky's are just a few of the stores that have featured their daily specials on the web site since its launch.
Locl Mkt makes it super easy to stay connected to local businesses. Sign up now to receive a list of daily specials and let's all show our neighborhood stores some love!.
Do purveyors have to pay for listings? How does Locl Mkt make money? I see no ads.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of highlighting the great things the local businesses have to offer, but offering delivery service turns this into a Fresh Direct or Taskrabbit and eliminates the sense of community and relationships with local businesses they claim they are trying to promote.
And please, don't call it BoCoCa. Terrible real estate broker-created nonsensical term. Brownstone Brooklyn? South Brooklyn?
@ bored at work, they don't deliver. Right now it's just a food listing to promote small, local businesses. Which is a noble aim.
ReplyDeletebrownstone brooklyn, carroll gardens were names given in the 70's to puff up the area. It has been know as So. Brooklyn for at least 100 years. I suspect that the new names became cache' because 1. it gave the area an identity in itself, instead of a directional=we live so. of brooklyn heights. 2. some years ago, owing to Brooklyn flight and young gangs here the area it hit a low point in the eyes of the city. the basis for West Side story, though set in the city happened here. But we have had roots here since the early 1900's. And for us this is not a hip place. It is home-with our vegetable man and our butcher and our pastry shops.where stoop sitting was an art form. TV killed the art of conversation and community. Sit outside and and smell bread baking. Break open the loaf-heaven, Suck on a half eaten sour pickle that was bought from a barrel yesterday and forgotten then found in your pocket. Power was not beauty but with the girl with longest jump-rope. Play was communal not personal. That was South Brooklyn-don't know what BoCoCa is.
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