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New life is coming this weekend to the old Sears store parking lot near the State Capitol in St. Paul. 

More than 40 food and merchandise vendors gathered outside the closed retail store for an event called St. Paul Marketplace. The building has been vacant since 2019. 

The organization Asian Media Access purchased the building this past May in partnership with the Asian American Business Resilience Network; they hope to turn the abandoned lot into a community hub.

The market kicked off this weekend and plans to run every weekend until Oct. 22nd.

John Yang, executive director of AABRN and board member of Asian Media Access, said the marketplace is a good introduction to showcase the redevelopment plans.

“It shows what the vision we have for the Sears lot too, which is not focused on financial income or gain or anything like that. It's more focused on what can we do to help the community to make our community better,” said Yang.

Yang also wants the market to be a place where vendors can showcase a variety of products. The food list ranges from barbecue to sugar cane juice to mochi donuts. 

David Powell is a vendor at the event and the owner of High Society Eats Food Truck Trailer, which offers a fusion of different cultural foods. He said he was looking to rent out the lot himself, but he found out about the marketplace through social media and decided to hop on board. 

“This parking lot has been vacant for awhile now and I grew up in the Cities and I’ve always imagined throwing an event here so it was kind of ideal for me,” said Powell.

Harper Nichole and Co. owner Brittney Olsen said she remembers shopping at the old Sears and had no clue about the marketplace. She said when she found out about it through a Facebook post she knew wanted to be a vendor. 

“Trying to start out a brick and mortar in these days and age it’s extremely hard for us, so to be given a space and an opportunity to come into the community and share what we're doing is an amazing opportunity,” Olsen said. 

While eating a jerk pineapple bowl and a pulled chicken sandwich, attendee Lindsey Brackman said the neighborhood is starting to look so different and she's glad that abandoned lots are being utilized. 

“They just need more food trucks but everything was good so far. You're not waiting in line for a long time for anything, it's a nice day out,” she said. Overall Brackman rated her experience at the marketplace a seven out of ten.

Yang said 120 vendors signed up for the course of five weekends. In the future, he hopes 50 plus vendors show each weekend.

As far as the inside of the old Sears building, the organization is currently in the process of evaluating plans to submit to the state. The Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board must sign off on any redevelopment plans for the site, as it lies within the 60 blocks surrounding the Capitol building.

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Aaliyah Demry

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The organization Asian Media Access purchased the building this past May in partnership with the Asian American Business Resilience Network; they hope to turn the abandoned lot into a community hub.


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