North Baltimore's Belvedere Square adds 4 new tenants
The new tenants, selling pretzels, Moroccan dishes and more, are joining the market as other food halls across the city are struggling.
Story Highlights Belvedere Square Market's food hall will reach full capacity with new tenants.
Four new businesses are joining Belvedere Square, including an LGBTQ boutique and a pretzel shop.
The market's success contrasts with other local markets facing tenant turnover.
A North Baltimore shopping development recently welcomed two tenants and has two more on the way, bringing its food hall to full capacity as markets around the city have struggled with turnover and vacancies.
The latest additions to Belvedere Square, including an LGBTQ-themed boutique and a pretzel shop, will take up two retail storefronts and two stalls within the development's food hall, Belvedere Square Market. Henry Deford, a senior vice president and principal at MacKenzie Retail, said the food hall portion of the development is now fully leased with 11 tenants.
The shopping complex's newcomers include pretzel stand B'More Twist, Love is Love boutique, Moroccan food and juice bar Kesh & Fresh and Munchies Cafe.
Love is Love became the first of the new tenants to open in March, in an approximately 1,800-square-foot storefront near the market. The boutique sells gifts, greeting cards, clothing and pet items geared toward the LGBTQ community, allies and pet lovers. B'More Twist, which sells pretzels, lemonade and tea, debuted inside the food hall at the beginning of April. The pretzel stand also has a new location at Lexington Market.
Kesh & Fresh is slated to open in the food hall by early June. Munchies Cafe, which will sell gourmet burgers and wings, will occupy a larger storefront on York Road, with hopes of opening sometime in June or this summer, according to Deford.
'Everybody is excited to have new, attractive options inside the market,' he said. 'There's really no missing category, in our opinion, right now.'
The tenants range from businesses that have been in the area for some time — such as Love is Love, which had a previous stint in Hampden — and those that are relocating to Baltimore. Kesh & Fresh previously appeared at farmers markets in Northern Virginia, and the Belvedere Square Market stall will be its first brick-and-mortar, Deford said.
The market's latest tenants add to a roster of newcomers from last year. Fusion taco spot Pono Taco, from the team behind Clark Burger across the street, took over the stall formerly home to Ejji Ramen, which closed in early 2024. Bonjour Crepes joined the market in October.
The food hall and retail hub is also home to Atwater's, Prigel Family Creamery, Mason's Famous Lobster Rolls, Thai Landing, Koba Korean BBQ and Neopol Savory Smokery.
Belvedere Square Market is not the only local market that has seen tenants come and go in waves in recent months. Three vendors left Broadway Market in Fells Point at the beginning of the year, but the Baltimore Public Markets Corp. has plans to fill those spaces soon.
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