CINCINNATI — As many small businesses struggle to stay afloat, Findlay Market's Launch program is working to help owners open their doors and succeed.
“For me, had I had to do this on my own, there’s no way that I could have opened,” said Alecia Petroze, owner of Juniper Seed.
Petroze started Juniper Seed back in 2022 after a family member asked her about vegan meal services in the area, and she told them there weren’t any.
“She’s like, what do you think? Would you ever think about doing it? And I was like well, maybe. I mean, I meal prep for myself, like I can just make you some extra meals,” Petroze said describing how her business began. “And that turned into a meal prep business.”
Two years later, with the help of the Findlay Market Launch program, Juniper Seed has its own storefront.
“I wanna have a fully vegan brunch restaurant, we’ll still run the meal prep service as a side of the business,” Petroze said when pitching her idea to the Launch program. “And yeah they chose my concept to launch and we opened our doors in September.”
The Launch program has two storefronts right in the heart of Findlay Market. One, currently occupied by Eliza Jane’s Bakeshop, will become available in March of next year.
The program gives small businesses a storefront, but also the resources they need to succeed.
“I think one of the biggest areas is that then small businesses aren’t putting up that initial investment, in the way that they might outside of this program,” said Betty Bollas, director of food innovation for Findlay Market.
With equipment already inside and affordable rent, businesses receive a lot of financial help when opening their storefront. But it doesn't stop there.
“We offer a variety of different ways to support businesses through classroom and experiences, coaching,” said Bollas.
One of those classroom experiences is the eight-week “Grow into Storefront” class for anyone interested in the Launch program, or just opening their own storefront.
“Even though I have 20 years of experience in the industry, there was so much that I learned,” Petroze said.
Applications for the storefront space close on Jan. 10, and the class applications close on Jan. 12.
For more information, you can visit Findlay Markets’ website.
