Monmouth City Market
...a concept in the making...
- concept idea build upon Newbo City Market, Cedar Rapids IA (http://newbocitymarket.org/)
A city market is a place to gather. A city market is a destination location. A city market offers unique products and services. A city market is a retail space that is directly tied to the customer. A city market is the next phase of consumerism focusing on developing a relationship between the consumer and producer.
- The residents of Monmouth consume chicken eggs; why don't we have an egg producer in town?
- The residents of Monmouth consume coffee; why don't we have a coffee roaster in town?
- The residents of Monmouth ride bikes; why don't we have a bike shop in town?
- The residents of Monmouth consume bread; why don't we have a bakery in town? (we do have one specialty bakery)
Much of retail consumption has evolved into a relationship where a producer generates products, that they believe is desired by the consumer. Producers do their "homework" and generate products that are appealing to the average customer, often focusing their products on areas of want and less on the area of need. This model is required since producers generally do not know their consumer and hence must seek this information by incurring a cost to the producer, which is then transferred to the consumer as a higher cost product.
In a "city market" the producer and consumer come together to the benefit of all parties.
...the following is a proposed operation that could be the foundation of a new Monmouth College Student Center (minus the caf)...
Facility
diagram Stall sizes (10' deep)
- along outside wall
- - small 6' wide
- - medium 8' wide
- - double small 12' wide
- - double medium 16' wide
- - Corner
Hours of Operation
Facility hours: Monday - Saturday, 7 am - 9 pm (+ special events) Main Office: 8 am - 5 pm (staffed by 1 administrative assistant) Coffee Shop/bakery: 7- 2 pm with limited evening services.
Administrative Space
Staffed by:
- 1 administrative assistant from 8 am - 5 pm
- 1 Director (1/2-time faculty member)
- 1 facilities maintenance (janitor)
- 2 faculty members (faculty offices)
Retail Space
- Retail space will be divided into the following categories:
- Anchor (MC controlled) establishments (Aramark subs/pizza, student-run coffee shop, student-run bakery, student-run mexican food)
- Local retailers (butcher, other food/restaurants,
Establishing Retail Strategy: Aramark would need to commit to providing food services which will initially service students, but eventually service the community.
Educational Kitchen
- - 16 cooking stations
- gas stove
- oven
- counter tops
- pots/pans/utensils
- Kitchen Activities:
- Monmouth College "educational garden" processing facility
- Community College credit (Sandburg)
- Specialty cooking classes (ethnic, technique, baking/breads, canning/preserving, BBQ, etc)
- Community use (for special events)
- Community "dinner clubs"
Art Space
Liquid Refreshment
- soft (non-alcoholic) drinks (teas, coffee, carbonated drinks, non-carbonated drinks)
- hard (alcoholic) drinks (beer, wine, spirits)
Liquid Activities:
- Coffee shop with bakery
Medical
- - ask a doctor/nurse a question (Walgreens, OSF, etc).
- - talks (healthy eating, heart disease, stroke, mental illiness, etc)
Bike Shop
- -fixit guy
Festivals
- food!!!
- Music!!!
- Holidays!!!
Other retail ideas
- fill your own "cleaning supplies"...dish soap, dishwashing soap, window cleaner, disinfectant, RO water...from the tap
Student services
- design services (product labels, flyers, business cards, etc - Kellogg Printing with student help).
- Makerspace (3D printing, Laser cutting, etc)