Continuously operating in Downtown York since 1876 as York County’s oldest public market, Penn Market has experienced incredible news worthy growth in the last three years. With occupancy dwindling since the early 2000s and under the threat of tax sale in 2017, Penn Market is once again home to a robust small business economy, with no vacant vendor spaces!
In 2016, ownership of the Market was transferred to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of York (RDA) to maintain the property as a continued asset to the community. Mike Black, President of the RDA Board, expresses his excitement by saying, “On behalf of the RDA board, we are very excited and pleased with the growth at Penn Market in recent years and now stand at full capacity! Great to see this valuable community asset being restored to the historical destination point it has been in the past and the best is yet to come.”
Visitors to the Market in 2020 would regularly only see 10 vendor stands open on Saturday market days, but visitors in 2023 now have 24 regularly open vendor options to choose from for their wholesale food and produce, prepared food, and household product needs. Under the management of the RDA, the market has seen an incredible influx of new vendors while still maintaining three multigenerational legacy vendors:
- Chronister Produce and Flowers (late 1930s)
- Charles Ilyes Family Meats (1951)
- Godfrey Produce (1940s)
With the influx of new market vendors comes more diverse representative of the WeCo District surrounding the market, located at 380 W. Market Street in the City of York. 66% of all businesses are BIPOC-owned with at least half owned by women. One of the newcomers is making history. Offering 25 varieties of wines, Mark and Val’s is the first Black-owned winery in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Brian Kreeger, explains the significance of the market reaching capacity, “Penn Market is a gem in the west part of York City with a rich history of serving the neighborhood, city and county. It has been amazing to watch new business owners flourish along with Penn Market as we reach toward recognizing our full potential in becoming more of a true community asset.”
For more information including the full list of market vendors, visit: www.pennmarket.com.
