Auburn goes nationwide, worldwide with 'bougie' new marketplace

Hillary Jensen busily directs a deliveryman while offloading boxes of Christmas products and discussing her new Marketplace on Elm business with store manager Shelley Howard on Monday. The question: What exactly is Marketplace on Elm? "It's a really nice world market – a bougie world market," Jensen says while moving big boxes into a warehouse behind the store as Howard offers simply, "Upscale." While Jensen is taking her first swing at entrepreneurship, mom Julie owned retail stores when Hillary was a kid. Jensen said it was actually her mom's idea for Hillary to open a store. "I thought it would be a great add-on to the community," says Jensen, whose business celebrated a ribbon cutting with the Auburn Chamber of Commerce in May. "I didn't want to have to go down the hill for anything. I just felt like a lot of people in the community don't like to go down the hill; they want to support local businesses here. I thought this would be great." Marketplace on Elm is an adult version of a candy store for kids. Customers walk through the door on Elm Avenue – next to Rowdy Randy's gas station between Interstate 80 and High Street – and into a 4,100 square-foot building packed with gifts and specialty foods on the ground floor and furniture and home décor, including bistro tables, upstairs. It's attractive and appealing to the eyes. Bright white walls and two large chandeliers light the massive room while bronze-colored tiles give the ceiling an old-town feel. The storewide potpourri fragrance is powerful but pleasing. "Everyone loves the store," Jensen says. "During construction, when I had inventory in the warehouse, I already knew what it was going to look like in here in my mind. Isn't that crazy? We found the building, went and bought all the stuff and before I knew it, it was here." Among the foods Marketplace on Elm carries are jellies, coffee, tea, Italian pastas, truffles from Sweden and pickled items. Placing spicy pickled quail eggs on a shelf was a joke between Jensen and her mom, who suggested Marketplace on Elm carry food and heard the eggs were "really good." The first batch sold out in four days. To say Marketplace on Elm has something for everyone doesn't just mean customers. It includes the businesses whose products adorn the shelves as well. "I try to find small businesses starting out," says Jensen, who met a guy from Georgia who makes his grandma's ketchup and asked, "Will you sell my ketchup?" Jensen has a spot for his "butt-kicking ketchup" – made with "all healthy ingredients" – on her shelves. Jensen heard about a man who started a company so his younger brother would always have a job; his peanut sales help support Down syndrome research. Jensen also found a mom who makes popcorn in her kitchen in North Carolina and a 20-something woman in Florida who was making greeting cards in her bedroom and decided to start selling them. "I said I want all of them," Jensen says, "and she starts crying because she's never sold all her cards before. I just buy everything that I love." That includes tallow from Auburn, and woodworks and dry flowers from Meadow Vista, to name just a few. Jensen's office features two big windows, which allow her a clear vision of the entire ground floor. She likes the location, being right off I-80. "I'm getting random people because they're stopping at the gas station (Rowdy Randy's) and they're like, 'Oh, there's a store right there, let's go in real quick,' " she says, adding social media chatter has also drawn customers. On the other hand, "I think a lot of people, they walk in and they're like, 'Whoa! OK, I don't have that much time. I'm gonna have to come back, when I have more time.' They could spend an hour in here if they really have time to really look," said Jensen. "I'm just super thankful for the community and everybody around here that's been so supportive. It's just wonderful here." One other important note about Marketplace on Elm: Parking does not suck. The storefront gives that appearance with just two parking spots, but the lot on the side of the business is devoted to Marketplace on Elm. A sign in front of the store guides shoppers to the parking lot. Oh, and finally, "We wrap everything," Jensen says.