Boise’s last independent neighborhood market is safe after two new owners pledge to preserve the local hub and carry on a legacy spanning a century.
On a Friday morning, Boise’s Roosevelt Market is crowded with breakfasters. Susan Wilder, one of the co-proprietors of the market, pulls up a chair, a smile on her face as she describes the new owners of the building that’s home to the local icon.
“The new owners are Pam Lemley and her daughter Jill Simplot,” she says. Wilder says they’re “very down home people – going to be easy to work with. Really, really positive – upbeat.”
There’s a simple explanation for why Simplot and her mother bought the market.
“They live in the neighborhood!” says Wider with a good laugh. “And they’ve been here and they like the atmosphere.”
The building the shop is in was built 117 years ago. Wilder and her business partner, Nicki Monroe, carry on a shop keeping legacy that started in 1918.
Under the ownership of Simplot and Lemley, Wilder says the charm of the local market will endure.
“Everything’s staying the same,” she says. “They said what they’d like to do is just have us make a wishlist, and go ahead and fix some things up, make it more modern – like new windows and things.”
When the Roosevelt Market was put up for sale in August, then-owners Kealy and Mike Baughman said they wanted to find a buyer who would keep the legacy of the market going. Under the new bosses, it looks like the east side community hub has many more years in front of it.
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