DUNMORE — Bucktown Market — a new marketplace selling everything from swords to cleaning products, and trains to Harley-Davidson parts — presents a new opportunity for local vendors.
“Everything is different,” co-owner Joseph Fernandes said. ” After Sugerman’s (Marketplace) closed, it left hundreds of vendors without anywhere to go — many who spent five to 10 years there. Our first calls were to the people we knew were up there.”
The new market at 1237 Prescott Ave. in the borough gave some vendors a reason to start selling their goods again, Fernandes added.
“This has changed a lot of people’s outlook,” he said. “People who felt defeated are reinvigorated. And some people came out of retirement because it’s right in their backyard.”
This building, constructed in 1919, which originally served as a silk mill now gives artisans a chance to sell handmade crafts.
The inside of Bucktown Market in Dunmore on Monday, May 5, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pokémon cards in a vendor’s booth at Bucktown Market in Dunmore on Monday, May 5, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A vendor’s booth at Bucktown Market in Dunmore on Monday, May 5, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Bucktown Market in Dunmore on Monday, May 5, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A vendor’s booth at Bucktown Market in Dunmore on Monday, May 5, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Co-owner Gabrielle Percival hold Monkey the goat in Bucktown Market in Dunmore on Monday, May 5, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Co-owners Gabrielle Percival and Joseph Fernandes at Bucktown Market in Dunmore on Monday, May 5, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dunmore Mayor Max Conway praised the owners for taking the initiative to bring the new business into the borough.
“It gives folks who don’t have the ability to get an actual storefront an opportunity to get their products out in front of folks, which I think is a big benefit,” he said. “And from what I was told, they’re going to try to make it bigger and better and I understand there will be food on the weekends. It seems like a nice way to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning and afternoon, looking at antiques and crafts people are selling.”
While the revitalization around Dunmore Corners gets a lot of attention, Conway also feels good about progress happening in other areas of town.
“We have Schiel’s Market which took over for Riccardo’s in that section of Dunmore, which has been a huge hit, and now we have this (market), and we have Schautz Stadium right there, too,” he said. “To see (development) kind of sprouting out in other neighborhoods is such a positive for the borough and the people who live here.”
Bucktown Market first opened its doors this past weekend and both Fernandes and the approximately 30 vendors were overwhelmed by the support.
“We had a bigger turnout than we expected and all our vendors were very pleased with it,” he said. “This is nine months in the making — a lot of late nights and planning and expenses, but this (past) weekend made it all worth it.”
The monthly rent cost for vendors breaks down to about $30 per day, Fernandes said. “We try to keep it as economical as possible,” he said.
In addition to hosting a food truck on weekends, Fernandes noted plans are in the works to conduct events like a mobile petting zoo with mini-animals, including goats, ponies and donkeys.
He also believes some vendors appreciate the social aspect of the market as much as making sales.
“Everyone really gets along well,” Fernandes said. “They’re all talkers and they just love to be here. It’s like a little community. We really want to get people interested in their personal stories because everyone in here has a really great story, and I think that will appeal to a lot of people.”