17th Street Market Returns in July

Imagine, if you will, an international farmers market you would likely see in Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles—but located in downtown.

Tucson’s beloved 17th Street Market is reopening mid-July and it’s expected to be unlike anything the Old Pueblo has ever seen before.

“Basically, it’s opening in a different form,” Owner Tom Kusian said. “It will be more along the lines of Pike Place Market in Seattle with multiple vendors.”

Kusian said the new 17th Street Market will feature stalls vendors can rent out and sell grocery goods from all over the world and will also have a walk-in produce cooler for those hard to find fresh items. They even have plans to bring back their famed fish market, which is great news since Rincon Market recently closed its doors.
The new location is connected to the old building, but located just to the west at 870 E. 17th Street, near Park Avenue. The market will be open on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm starting on Saturday, July 11, Kusian said. He also plans on featuring live music as they used to do at the original store.

“It’s a 64,000 sq ft location where Tucson Food Service used to be,” Kusian said. “This is going to be a lot of fun. I’ve very excited to be doing this.”

While the original 17th Street market had a devoted following, the store closed in March 2013 due to declining sales.

More details in next week’s edition of Chow.

For more information about the reopening, click here

This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2020.