New market being built in Whitefish

The building is still largely under construction, but when owner David Gatton gives a tour of the Stumptown Marketplace it’s easy to see his vision for a bustling market with a variety of food and craft vendors.

Gatton and his wife, Amy, are creating the new market on Spokane Avenue across from Whitefish Middle School. Tucked in the middle of the block, the building has undergone a transformation this spring with a new facade and remodeling of the 5,200-square-foot interior. Previously the building was an arcade, housed Denning Sheet Metal and served as storage for a downtown car dealership.

Stumptown Marketplace is envisioned to be similar to Pike Place Market in Seattle, providing space for food and retail vendors or artists and craftsman to sell their goods. Along with the vendor space, plans call for creating indoor and outdoor seating to accommodate about 70 people.

“I want this to be a place where you come after you drop off your kids in the morning and grab a cup of coffee and something from the bakery,” Gatton said. “It was important to create that community space for people to come sit by the fireplace.”

Gatton has designed the Marketplace to be a mix of vendors in a dozen individual shop spaces that face out into a center common area. He noted the market will be ideal for new businesses that aren’t able to rent space on their own. It also will provide a way for vendors to benefit from each others’ customers.

“Everyone benefits from everybody else’s traffic,” he said. “It can be expensive to rent space, but because of the shared public seating and bathroom areas, that allows us to do this at a value.”

The couple met in Glacier National Park while they were working in hotels in the park. David was involved in the development of The Lodge at Whitefish Lake and for the past four years has served as manager for the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, Eddie’s Cafe in Apgar and the Glacier Village Cafe in East Glacier.

Gatton said he has had several ideas for businesses, but the inspiration for the Stumptown Marketplace came from his 5-year-old daughter, Emily. Every summer the family regularly purchases produce from the Downtown Farmers Market and Emily loves to eat the carrots they buy at the market.

“When fall comes and we couldn’t buy the carrots any more she didn’t want to eat any other vegetables,” Gatton said. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have a year-round marketplace.’”

The idea came last fall and when Amy approved, David headed to the bank to get funding. He purchased the building and began construction last month.

Stumptown Marketplace is expected to open in June. Gatton said he already has several vendors interested in renting space and a few have signed leases.

Desch is a reporter for the Whitefish Pilot.