By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Aakash Patel was running a Roly Poly sandwich franchise when Rockford City Market made its debut a dozen years ago.
He and his wife, Aarti, wanted to be part of the new downtown event, but it had a rule against franchises. So they created a new taco business from scratch in order to join the market the following year.
Today, Cantina Taco has two brick-and-mortar locations and it’s still a weekly presence at the Friday night market near the corner State and Water streets.
“Realistically, we wouldn’t have the businesses without the City Market,” Patel said Friday, which was closing night of the 2022 season.
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City Market wrapped up this season with its best attendance numbers since the pandemic nearly ground the event to a halt in 2020. There were 92,135 visits to the market this year, according to Rockford City Market statistics. That’s the most since the record 111,160 in 2019 and the sixth most in the 13 total seasons held.
Bringing people to downtown is just one goal of the market. Rock River Development Partnership, which manages the market, also prides itself on serving as a business incubator that lets entrepreneurs test and grow their brand before making hefty investments such as a storefront.
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Since it’s inception in 2010, 14 businesses that started at Rockford City Market have gone on to open their own brick-and-mortar locations, creating approximately 124 jobs. Other businesses grow without taking the step of opening a storefront.
“It’s a total stepping stone to a lot of just general business growth,” said Cathy McDermott, executive director of Rock River Development Partnership. “Some people end up doing way more catering than they did. They establish online stores or boost their online store traffic.
“Some businesses continue to come back even though they do have brick and mortars or they do have a big business. The continual exposure here is something that keeps their business going.”
Patel, whose taco shop has locations in Stewart Square downtown and along Riverside Boulevard in Loves Park, says that continuous exposure is a key reason they continue to operate at the market.
“We still get a lot of people coming that say, ‘hey, I’ve never tried you guys, but everyone tells me to try the birria,'” he said.
Some of the brick-and-mortar businesses born out of Rockford City Market include Candy Cloud, Woodfire Pizza, Bath & Body Fusion, Canine Crunchery and Synergy Collective.
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Three more are opening this year: Thai Jasmine Rice & Noodles, which will have a grand opening on Forest Hills Road in October, T&C Cooking Creations, which is opening under a new name on South Main in October, and TNT Funnel Cakes, which is opening at State and Wyman in October.
“The market opened up a different level of customer base for us,” said Ashley Washington, who runs TNT with her husband, Tony. “It was absolutely what were were looking for.”
TNT’s new brick-and-mortar will make the popular fair food available year-round. They’ll also have other menu options centered around funnel cakes, such as a breakfast sandwich and a funnel dog, which is their take on a corn dog.
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The Washingtons are awaiting the installation of a new ventilation system, which needed to be compatible with the historic building they’re located in, before they open their doors. They’re occupying the former Subway restaurant downtown, and they hope one day they can grow to more locations, too. But first, they’re focused on creating the right company for Rockford.
“We want to make sure that we bring something different downtown. We want to make sure we do well for the culture,” Ashley Washington said. “We want to make sure that everything is what we want Rockford to be.”
Washington has also used the market to make connections with other local businesses. For example, they use Hughes’s Happy Hives honey from the tent next door to them at City Market to sweeten their breakfast sandwiches, and they’re looking to connect with a local coffee shop to add hot drinks to their downtown location.
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This year’s market had 70 total vendors, including 20 that were new to the weekly event. There’s been 40 total musicians perform between its two stages.
It also had first-time customers, which McDermott said the market is able to determine through credit card receipts from beverage tents.
“It’s a lot,” McDermott said. “So that’s pretty cool to see that more and more people are still experiencing the market for the first time.”
City Market survey
Rockford City Market is conducting an end-of-season survey to learn the impact of the market on local businesses and what changes it may make in the future.
“We really, really want to use that to get feedback and plan for next year, and we really do take all that to heart,” McDermott said.
You can take the survey HERE.
From market to storefront
Here’s a look at Rockford City Market’s list of businesses that started as market vendors before opening their own storefronts.
- Candy Cloud Co., 6286 E. State St., Rockford
- Woodfire Pizza, 408 E. State St., Rockford
- Cantina Taco, 117 S. Main St., Rockford, and 6342 E. Riverside Blvd., Loves Park
- Bath & Body Fusion, 324 E. State St., Rockford
- Canine Crunchery, 1888 Daimler Road, Rockford
- Candle Crest, 1418 20th St., Rockford
- T&C Cooking Creations: Opening soon as Ambiance at 307 S. Main St., Rockford
- Synergy Collective, 11361 Main St., Roscoe
- Crust & Crumbles, 116 N. Madison St., Rockford
- Velvet Robot Coffee, 116 N. Madison St. and 1292 S. Alpine Road, Rockford
- Quixotic Bakery, 116 N. Madison St., Rockford
- TNT Funnel Cakes: Opening soon at 201 W. State St., Rockford
- Thai Jasmine Rice and Noodles, 5839 Forest Hills Road, Rockford
- Earth A Zero Waste Company: Opening Soon at 327 W. Jefferson St., Rockford
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.