For almost two years, downtown Tampa has been home to a little grocery shop called Duckweed Urban Market. Now in a new, larger location on the ground floor of the Element on Tampa Street, Duckweed offers more goodies and is more visible to more customers. A three-day grand reopening will celebrate the new space this week.
After getting to know the client market in the charming original location,
Duckweed owner Michelle Deatherage, made the decision to make the move to a bigger space with great exposure. Duckweed's new home of 2,500 square feet is attached to residential and very accessible to downtown workers. The shop offers a great mix of necessities and gourmet items. It features café seating indoors and out, a kitchen, and a nearly completed lounge on a lofted second level.
The edgy neighborhood market carries unique items and shows their sense of humor through some their merchandise.
"We are urban," says Deatherage. "Local is awesome to us, organic is better, and we want to be that neighborhood store that caters to what you need. If you don’t see it, we’ll order it. We sell a lot of items made by other local, small businesses."
The name
Duckweed has a lot of meaning. When looking for a name for the urban market, Deatherage researched some of the smallest things in the world and found the world’s smallest flowering plant, duckweed.
"It's ubiquitous and native to Florida, a great source of protein, and we carry it at the store," explains Deatherage.
Grand reopening events begin on Thursday, June 25, with Pet-A-Palooza offering a 10 percent discount on all animal products. Friday, July 26, is your opportunity to sample 70 store products during 70s-Night. The extravaganza concludes on Saturday, July 27, with Shopping-in-the-Raw, an ode to raw food at which you're encouraged to shop in your bathrobe.
Duckweed Urban Market is open daily from 10am until 10pm.
Writer:
Taryn Sabia
Source: Michelle Deatherage, owner
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