Alana Levinson

The Northside Market Offers Up a New Vibe in Shopping

Williamsburg has fleas. Artists & Fleas on North 7th Street and Brooklyn Flea on the East River keep the Williamsburg waterfront crawling with shoppers. Now you can add one more to the list: the Northside Market.

Although located in the thick of flea market country, at the corner of Kent Avenue and North 6th Street, the Northside Market manages to offer something different than its neighbors. For starters, the 4,100 square foot space is indoors and air conditioned. It will showcase all new products – not vintage ¬¬- and food with 25-30 vendors, in addition to musical acts. There is even a gallery in the back which will exhibit work by local artists.

The owners, Alex Sussman and Justin Look, thought the location would be ideal for their pop-up market. “We live in the area and saw an opportunity to make something great out of an un-used vacant storefront,” says Sussman. Look adds that “there’s a creative energy in Williamsburg that fits perfectly with what [they] are trying to do.” While there are many other markets around, none quite have the combination of new merchandise, music and food.

Look has experience in the field, having worked at street fairs and markets with his cousin who is a local chef, and used this as inspiration for the Northside Market. He found that many of them are hard to get into or limit what you can sell. “We are new to the game and are going for a different vibe,” he says. “While we want people to come and shop, we also view ourselves as an event space to see art, listen to music and meet creative people.”

The culinary offerings are at the front of the space, with Eton shave ice greeting one outside. Continue on in for eats from Cantina Royal, Lots O’ Lobstah, Cookie Road and more. Further back you’ll find the goods, with booths like Poundcake NYC, Tam Aura Designs and Kotego, a company that has developed an iPhone application of the world’s most advanced panoramic video camera. This past Saturday at the opening, there was jazz played by Dan Berg and the Gestalt.

Many of the vendors will be there all summer, but some will come in and out. There will also be something different in the back gallery space each week, like candy walls or mini golf. But you’ll have to check their twitter (@NorthsideMkt) to see what’s in store. As Sussman puts it, “We want this to be a surprise.”

Northside Market
135 Kent
10:00AM – 6:00PM

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