Grand Rapids' $30 million
Downtown Market announced this week that a high-end artisan bakery is its sixth tenant in the year-round Market Hall.
Field & Fire, owned and operated by Shelby Kibler, a former baker and developer of Ann Arbor's popular
Zingerman's, will occupy 1,500 square feet in one of 24 indoor vendor stalls in what will be West Michigan's premier fresh food and culinary venue. The Downtown Market will open this summer at 435 Ionia Ave. SW with vendors in place. Market officials indicate restaurants, pubs, a cooking school, a greenhouse, an outdoor farmers market, and much more will follow.
Kibler plans to offer market visitors organic breads, croissants, gougere made with cheese and black pepper, flatbreads, pizzas, and savory baked goods made onsite daily in wood-fired ovens. All items will be prepared from locally sourced ingredients.
Kibler, a Stanton, Mich. native, lives in Ann Arbor and will relocate his family to Grand Rapids to be close to the bakery.
"I've thought for years that Grand Rapids was a market that was underserved for the high quality artisan breads," Kibler says. "Grand Rapids has been on my radar for a while, and I thought that before (an artisan bakery) gets built, I'd better do it myself. I'm going to have an audience at the Downtown Market to come and see my bakery, which is sometimes what makes it hard for businesses to succeed -- how do I draw people to my business?"
Field & Fire will join several other shops announced by the market previously: Simpatico Coffee, Old World Olive Press, Crescent Floral & Gifts, Dorothy and Tony's Gourmet Kettle Corn, and Love's Ice Cream.
Source: Downtown Market News Release
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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