Walking into the new Hope & Main Downtown Makers Marketplace in Providence provides more than a guarantee to find unique, quality morsels from local culinary entrepreneurs — it provides a symbol of the growth and impact of one of Warren’s marquee food businesses.

Begun in 2014 with nothing but a dream and a vacant school building, Hope & Main has since assisted in the establishment and development of over 450 small food businesses out of its headquarters in Warren. Late last year, founder and president Lisa Raiola struck up a deal with the Papitto Opportunity Connection and former Providence mayor and real estate developer Joe Paolino Jr. to move into the vacant restaurant space in the ground floor of his skyscraper at 100 Westminster St. in Rhode Island’s capital.

The fruits of that labor are now ready for the public to enjoy in the form of the beautifully decorated, well-organized cafe and marketplace — anchored by Hope & Main alum Schasteâ’s unique coffee and tea beverages and a variety of tantalizing baked goods. Fresh, made-to-order breakfast and lunch options rotate throughout the week, utilizing Hope & Main products whenever possible. Grab and go and frozen items from various Hope & Main graduates are also available for purchase, including the group’s “Nourish Our Neighbors” meals, which provide one meal to someone in need for each one purchased.

Hope & Main celebrated an official ribbon cutting ceremony this morning, but the Times-Gazette was treated to a special sneak preview during its unofficial first day of full operation on Monday morning.

The marketplace, located in the spacious area behind the front counter and bar area, features over 100 products from Hope & Main members — from Rhode Island staples like Anchor Toffee and Granny Squibs iced tea to products that were created as recently as August of 2022. Raiola commented that there is plenty of space for expansion and more products as they continue to develop new businesses.

Raiola said that each Hope & Main product generates their own fanbase as they earn recognition, and the market will provide a physical location for their products to be sold year-round and gain more notoriety, more quickly. She said the market’s location (in the lobby of a bustling commercial property with dozens of blue chip companies as tenants, and abutting the new Beatrice Hotel) will also serve to expand the reach of their graduates’ products throughout the state and beyond.

“Food is really Rhode Island’s love language,” Raiola said. “To have all these products from local businesses, created right here in Rhode Island, there’s really no better gift you can bring back to your loved ones, whether you’re a tourist or just visiting from somewhere else in the state.”

Alison Mountford, marketing and communications director for Hope & Main, said that in an era where the term “local” has been utilized by marketing firms to the point where it might lose some of its magic, this new marketplace can hang its hat on the fact that nearly every product sold from within is truly the product of a local business started from the dream of a local person.

“We never have a shortage of stories to tell to people who are curious about the marketplace,” she said. “We are truly hyper-local to a degree here that makes it special.”

In addition to the marketplace, Raiola said that Hope & Main recently closed on the purchase of a large space in the city’s West End, where they will now undergo a capital campaign to raise money to build it out into another shared kitchen space to serve the West Bay and effectively double their capacity for developing burgeoning food businesses.

The Hope & Main Downtown Makers Marketplace is open from Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with breakfast served from 7-11 a.m. and lunch from 11-2 p.m. Grab and go items are available throughout opening hours.