Faces of Shift with Mark Shaker of Broadway Market
With the opening of Broadway Market; we jumped at the chance to sit down with the founder, Mark Shaker. Broadway Market is finishing renovation of the former home of Tony’s Market at 950 North Broadway. Opening weekend is scheduled for February 22nd. Several of the food stalls come from existing businesses at Stanley Marketplace, also founded by Mark, in Aurora.
With such an ambitious project set to open this month and collaboration being a top priority; it was imperative to put together a dynamic team. Mark and his partners, Brad Arguello and Chris Haugen, of Eclectic Collective, will be the group opening Broadway. Brad owns White Whale Room and Chris runs White Construction Group, who helped build Stanley and some other food halls around town.
The team worked with Adam Schlegel to help put together the food businesses. They’re also working with Christi Turner of Scraps to figure out how to be as close to zero waste as they can. Mark gives credit to the entire team for making Broadway Market a reality, “there are lots of people on our team who all bring different skills and great enthusiasm.”
The collaboration continued as the team worked hard to put together a fantastic group of tenants. Adam Schlegel was the driving force on choosing the right tenants. Because of the success at Stanley, they used the same approach. People who signed up early helped find other businesses that would be the right fit. Mark notes, “A lot of our chefs are coming to Broadway Market because they wanted to work in the same space as one another. No favorites. They’re all bringing something great to our market.”
We were excited to learn how Broadway Market would compare to Stanley Marketplace also founded by Mark. With both places rooted in their respective neighborhoods, it was important to create a gathering place for people who live and work nearby and also one that’s enjoyable for people from all over to visit.
Mark continued, “neighborhood focus is so important to us. Both places have terrific food from some of the best chefs around, but they have different personalities and different vibes. Stanley is a very family friendly place in an industrial space, and we think Broadway will have a wider range of guests in a more elevated aesthetic. We will certainly learn a lot more once Broadway opens. The biggest different is size. Broadway is a tenth the size of Stanley. We’ve loved working on a project where we can stand in the middle and see every concept from one position.”
Broadway Market will not just be food vendors. The goal is to put different kinds of businesses together in the same place. There will be two retail spots opening at Broadway. The first is a boutique called Velvet Wolf X Iron Wolf. They will offer a nice variety of clothing for women and men. This will be their second location in the Golden Triangle. The other retail tenant will be Luna and Jasper, a gift shop tailored for the space.
The Wolf shop is owned by Molly and Craig Hakes. Luna and Jasper is the newest project from Shana Colbin Dunn. Mark and his team worked with these same business owners at Stanley. Mark is excited about both and says, “they’re great operators and small business owners and we think they’ll be a hit at Broadway.”
We were curious how Broadway Market would stack up against the other food halls in Denver. Mark doesn’t see other food halls as competition. He sees Broadway Market as part of a food-focused community in Denver and as a collective, helps the metro area stand out as an innovative place and perfect destination for food halls. He goes on to say, “people from out of town can come here and go on a food hall tour – we have friends who’ve done that from both coasts – and they’ll get something different at every one. One of the things we’re most excited about at Broadway is the caliber of chefs who are opening stalls here. We’ve got some big names doing some new and interesting things, and they’re excited to work together, to collaborate.
Mark’s approach to projects is to immerse himself in the neighborhood where the project is located. It is very important for him to see how people within a neighborhood live, work and play. He also spoke about his relationship with Shift’s founder, Grant Barnhill. “I have known Grant for a long time and have the utmost respect for him and what he has developed with Shift Workspaces. Thus, it was a perfect fit to get started. And the more time I spend at Bannock the more I appreciate the culture and all-around excellent work environment.
Broadway Market is marketed by Oh Hey Creative. As Broadway Market nears their opening; you can follow their progress and check out all their events on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. To see what’s going on at Stanley Marketplace, follow them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, as well.
