The Thai Town Marketplace (TTMP) is a new approach to urban revitalization and an innovative “green” community market. It is a food hall/public market located in Los Angeles’ Thai Town district, at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue, adjacent to the Metro Red Line subway station. The TTMP brings the food court/hawker center experience of Southeast Asia to the streets of Los Angeles, with 12 indoor food stalls serving Thai, American and international dishes, plus six outdoor kiosks selling gift and retail items.
As the area is culturally and ethnically diverse comprising predominantly of Latino, Armenian and Thai immigrants, we consider this tapestry of cultures a community asset. Indeed the multi-cultural aspect of the market will create an authentic marketplace based on ethnic foods, artisanship and traditional products reflective of the diverse cultures of the area.
All entrepreneurs fall within 200% of the federal poverty level, ensuring that this project uplifts low-income entrepreneurs.
As an economic development project of the Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC), the TTMP also functions as a social enterprise small business incubator, which enables low-income entrepreneurs to cultivate their businesses minus the high overhead costs associated with operating their own storefronts. Thai CDC absorbs advertising and marketing costs, as well as costs for common supplies, utilities and services, such as internet service, phone and fax service, electricity, water, office supplies, printing, utensils, plates, janitorial services dishwashing, and security.
The TTMP provides the venue and business infrastructure while the market’s start-up entrepreneurs concentrate their time and resources into growing their businesses, with the goal of becoming financially viable in fewer than three years.
Impact
The intended impact on the community includes creating community cohesion and unity around a public space and helping low-income individuals achieve self-sufficiency, upward mobility and economic empowerment through business ownership and permanent employment.
Also, every 50 jobs created by an incubator generate another 25 jobs in the community. Accordingly, the 40 incubator jobs generated should create over 20 jobs in the East Hollywood community. Because the business incubation cycle is every three years, the TTMP will have a multiplier effect by creating 18 new businesses each cycle. To increase the incorporation of healthy, locally produced-foods, we will pilot direct purchasing agreements between our market vendors and local farmers at our adjacent East Hollywood Certified Farmers’ Market. The marketplace contains critical community improvements, such as an information kiosk for tourists and streetscaping. In order to enable low income families to access healthier foods, the market vendors have enrolled in the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program and joined the waiting list for the Electronic Benefit Transfer Restaurant Meals Program.
About Thai CDC
The TTMP is operated by the Thai Town Marketplace, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation. However, the market was founded and developed by the Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC).
The TTMP represents Thai CDC’s first commercial development. The TTMP aims to develop employment and business opportunities for low-income individuals and welfare recipients while revitalizing a community that has experienced a long period of decline and neglect.
Thai CDC was founded in 1994 to address the emergency relief needs of individuals and families adversely affected by the 1992 LA Civil Unrest and the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Since 1994, Thai CDC has been making a difference with programs and projects like its 106 units of affordable multi-family and senior housing, legal and family services, campaigns for equitable development, and trafficked/domestic violence/sexual assault victim services and advocacy. Thai CDC also provides workshops and entrepreneurship training for small businesses and entrepreneurs and foreclosure housing counseling for those in danger of losing their homes. Thai CDC also campaigned for and won the designation of Thai Town in East Hollywood in 1999, the only Thai Town in the nation and Thai CDC has been developing and revitalizing that neighborhood ever since.
Thai CDC has helped address food inequity and access to fresh, healthy produce in the community with the establishment of the adjacent East Hollywood Certified Farmers’ Market in 2012, operating on Monday and Thursday afternoons year-round. The TTMP continues this tradition of community and economic development by placing the neighborhood into the hands of the community to revitalize it and improve community wealth and health outcomes.
Thai CDC is the co-founder and partner of the Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program. Formed in 1999, the Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program (API SBP) is a collaborative of six community organizations, the Chinatown Service Center, Koreatown Youth & Community Center, Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, United Cambodian Community, and the Thai Community Development Center. The partners share over 135 years of service between them. The mission of the API SBP is to assist the development of small and micro businesses in Los Angeles with a particular focus on the Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Cambodian, Thai, and Filipino business communities, especially those of low income immigrants. The Thai Town Marketplace vendors and first time entrepreneurs will be able to access the resources the API-SBP can provide in addition to Thai CDC’s Small Business Program This assistance is free of charge.