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SCRANTON — Visitors to The Mall at Steamtown will have another area to explore when the Scranton Public Market opens this summer.
According to The Mall at Steamtown’s Marketing Director Amy Zellers, while the market will begin in the summertime, it will continue to evolve to reflect the changing seasons.
Fruits and vegetables are expected to dominate vendor stands in the summer months, pumpkins and corn stalks will arrive for fall, more giftable items along with produce and pop-up sales will be prominent in the winter months and flowers and gardening items will be available for spring.
“We view it as a living, breathing organism that will change throughout the year,” Zellers said.
Zellers confirmed that Terra Preta, Beta Bread, Pittston Popcorn, Purple Pepper Farms, Jitty Joe’s, Rainbow Juice, Annie’s Country Kitchen, Ryan’s Dips and Mixes and Peculiar Culinary will serve as vendors.
She added there has been a lot of interest from prospective vendors and more may be added in the future.
“It’s an ongoing process,” Zellers said. “We’re making sure all the vendors are local and will provide high quality products. I’ve been inundated with people since January and I still have a list.”
The market will be housed in the location of the former Express store on the first level across from the mall’s center stage.
“It will be a place where people can come for a day out,” Zellers said. “They will be able to stroll around the mall and marketplace and enjoy live entertainment. It will serve as more of an experience than just an artisan gathering area, which is a reason we chose it to be located in the heart of the mall.”
The public market is just one of several major changes the mall has experienced over the past year. Local businessman John Basalyga closed on the sale of the property at 300 Lackawanna Ave., Scranton last July. Prior to Basalyga’s purchase, the mall filed for bankruptcy in March 2014.
The former Marquee Cinemas/Steamtown 8 theater will be transformed into the Iron Horse Movie Bistro, a luxury movie theater featuring electric, reclining seats and a full bar and bistro set to open this year.
The mall hosted quarterfinals bouts of the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves boxing tournament in the food court area on March 19.
Revello’s Pizza, which also has locations in Old Forge and Kingston, opened a satellite location in the mall on March 30.
A gym, Crunch Scranton, is currently under construction and, while the business doesn’t have a pinpoint start date, it is targeting the end of April, according to front desk sales clerk Karissa Worobey.
