The building housing one of Boise's last true neighborhood markets is for sale. Southeast Boise’s Roosevelt Market has been a community fixture for nearly 120 years.
The woman who’s owned the Market since 2013, Kealy Baughman, says now’s the time to sell. Located across the street from Roosevelt Elementary on Elm Avenue, Baughman bought the building to save it from falling into the hands of someone who might have torn it down or changed from a market to another sort of shop.
The co-owner of the business, Susan Wilder, says she and business partner Nicki Monroe have leased the building for more than a decade. Wilder calls customers family.
She says she’s watched her patrons’ kids grow up. “I mean, 13 years, you know, you’re watching from the time that they start kindergarten all the way through high school,” she says.
The women’s lease is up at the end of the year. With the fate of their business in the air and contingent on a new owner, Wilder says she goes between emotional extremes.
“So I’m bouncing back and forth between having tear time to just, ‘Put your head up, and go for it,’” says Wilder with a laugh. “Just keep a smile on your face and keep going.”
Wilder says she and her Roosevelt Market co-owner thought about buying the building, but, at nearly $400,000, it’s out of their price range.
Baughman, the building’s owner, says she's looking into what contingencies she can put on the sale to ensure it remains as unchanged as possible.
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