The Hannah Grimes Marketplace, located on Main St., is a dynamic retail store with an exclusive focus on local products. The Marketplace helps build local businesses and connect businesses to regional customers. Now with more than 300 members, the Marketplace is a hub for locally made goods.

The Hannah Grimes Marketplace opened in 1997, first at a temporary space due to construction delays, and then in its permanent location at 42 Main Street in 1998. Hannah Grimes leased the space from the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation with friendly and supportive terms. The first challenge was securing essential funding to furnish the store and to provide necessary operating capital. The NH-CDFA provided a loan and in securing this loan, founder Mary Ann Kristiansen established a relationship with the NHCDFA that has continued to the present day. The second challenge was filling the space with local artisan wares, but Mary Ann had connections from hosting the Traditional Craft & Industry Fair at her home in 1994. These folks spread the word of a place to for local artisans to sell their goods and find community, resulting in a full and successful retail store.

The final challenge was somewhat unexpected: the IRS proved reluctant to give the Marketplace nonprofit status. After several years of back and forth, in 2001, Hannah Grimes created two separate legal entities: a 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Hannah Grimes Center for
Entrepreneurship (HGC), and a for-profit business, the Hannah Grimes Marketplace, which is wholly owned by HGC. Although this is a more complex structure for the organization, it has the unanticipated benefit of keeping the entire Hannah Grimes enterprise firmly rooted in the joys and challenges of running a business. It allows us to provide support for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs.