Four years ago, Denise Meadows transitioned from being a director on the Hannah Grimes Marketplace board to running day to day operations as our Marketplace Manager. Since then, she has grown sales at the Marketplace by 38%. Denise has, without a doubt, made the Marketplace the successful store and hub that it is today.
As many of you know (and have tasted), Denise has also steadily grown her popular catering business, Free Range Chick, during her time as the Marketplace Manager. Unsurprisingly, Denise is known to many as simply “Super Woman.”
With the closing of the Neighbor Made Kitchen this year and a pressing need to find a new commercial kitchen for Free Range Chick, Denise partnered with “Charcoal” Charlie Pini to purchase the North Street Market in Keene as a place to house their popular catering partnership and launch a small gourmet food market – CC&D’s Kitchen Market.
Alas, Denise has decided that her superpowers have limits in regards to running two full-time businesses, both of which growing at a fast clip. She will be stepping down from her role as Marketplace Manager to a part-time role at the Marketplace later this fall and we hope to have a new Marketplace Manager in by mid-September.
Looking forward to what will be its 20th year in business in 2017, the Marketplace is in excellent financial shape and has a strong board of directors. As we celebrate the growth of the buy local culture in our community over the past 20 years, we couldn’t be more grateful for Denise’s contributions to the Marketplace and the foundation she has created for the exciting new opportunities ahead. With a new leader on board, we look ahead with optimism and an appetite for retail innovation in our community.
A big thank you to Denise and to all of you for contributing to the success of the Marketplace and the community and we look forward to partnering with you in building on that platform and ramping it up!
In the meantime, please note that we are seeking applications for the Marketplace Manager role (job description here) over the next few weeks. Applicants can send a cover letter and resume to search@hannahgrimes.com, due by August 22 at noon. Please spread the word to those who you feel may be qualified!
Thank you,
Mary Ann Kristiansen
Executive Director, Hannah Grimes Center
mak@hannahgrimes.com | (603) 352-5063
Important Changes at the Marketplace
