BRIDGEPORT – When John Hiden sent an email in the spring to the more than 60 vendors at the former Mongers Market on Railroad Avenue, John Paul O’Grodnick started talking to other vendors about keeping the multi-vendor market alive.
And now nearly four months or so later, The Recollective was born at the former printing plant of the Connecticut Post at 588 State St. downtown. The new market will have a grand opening Saturday, Nov. 22, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
O’Grodnick, who ran MoJo Thrifts at Mongers, reached out to local developers and discovered the printing plant was available for lease from its new owner. 588 State Street Realty LLC purchased the property from Hearst CT Post LLC for $2.3 million in August, according to city property records.
“I talked to developers in Bridgeport and asked them if they knew of anything that could house something like Mongers,” O’Grodnick said. “And 3 ½ months later, here we are. There’s a lot of construction like painting and small site stuff that has to be done.”
The nearly 40,000-square-feet of space in two of the three buildings will be home to about 40 vendors with an upstairs and downstairs.
“I would say about 90% of the vendors are from the former Mongers Market,” he added. “And we hope to expand into the third building soon, where there is about 13,000 square feet.”
Additionally, there will be a café and bathrooms on the first floor. O’Grodnick also mentioned that there will be air conditioning.
The regular hours for The Recollective will be 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sundays, until further notice. For the first two grand opening weekends, the market will be open on Saturdays and Sundays.
