Small business hub includes bakery, bookstore and bath products

Downtown Lansing has a new small business incubator that serves as a hub for up-and-coming shops where customers can have a diverse shopping experience. The Middle Village Micro Market, which launched this month, includes, so far, A Novel Concept, MI Alchemy, Capital Hippie and Sweet Encounters Bakery & Café. Merchandise from Neva Lee’s, Lansing Made and The Artist’s Umbrella are also featured throughout the new retail space. 

So what exactly can you find at the Middle Village Micro Market? A Novel Concept is a new and gently used bookstore, MI Alchemy sells locally produced bath and body products, Capital Hippie offers handmade tie-dyed apparel and Sweet Encounters Bakery & Café serves bakery goods with a particular focus on catering to those with unique food allergies. 

Lake Trust Credit Union and Downtown Lansing Inc. are backing the Middle Village Micro Market with the goal of helping budding entrepreneurs get their small business start-ups off the ground. The marketplace, which held its grand-opening Oct. 15, aims to help new retail merchants get a test sample of Lansing’s market and hopefully grow their customer base and build their brand’s public recognition. More businesses will eventually come to the market as its lineup grows and rotates. 

“Middle Village is a space that will empower the small business owner while offering another opportunity for customers to lift up local in the downtown business district,” said Downtown Lansing Inc. executive director Cathleen Edgerly. “Middle Village and our new office space allowed us to build a sustainable model for addressing vacancies downtown, diversify our business mix and start a transition from businesses that serve the daytime worker to having more businesses downtown that offer more around-the-clock options for our residents.”

Support City Pulse  -  Donate Today!