First Marketplace For Local, Diverse Small Businesses Opens On Pico Blvd

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The first marketplace for local and diverse small businesses opened on Pico Blvd in a ribbon cutting ceremony that attracted the attention of local television news media, along with local residents and members of City Council.

Called Pico Roots, the retail space is on the ground floor of a mixed use building called Brunson Terrace. Developed by the Community Corporation of Santa Monica, together with Brooks + Scarpa, it is the non-profit organization's latest affordable housing complex in the Pico community.

⁘The marketplace will be open starting out Thursday through Sunday and then once it's wildly successful, which hopefully will be next week, we can start to open it more,⁘ Tara Barauskas, Executive Director of the Community Corp, said.

⁘This is a unique and new idea for Santa Monica. We wanted to create an affordable business space and this is a request that came directly from the community. When we were doing outreach for the affordable housing that is up above, people said, 'Well, it's great to have affordable housing, but what we really need is affordable small business space.' So that is where this idea came about,⁘ she added.

Offering events and workshops for all ages, the aim of Pico Roots is to become a vibrant hub celebrating diversity, inclusion and connection.

⁘We've been waiting a long time for this to open, and I'm so excited to see it come to fruition. We worked for a long time, long and hard for this to be open in our pico neighborhood [and] we need it for our economic recovery,⁘ said Ericka Lesley , Chair of the Rent Control Board.