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• About •
The Grow DeSoto Marketplace is a 26,000 square foot retail building located in the Brookhollow Shopping Center in DeSoto, TX. This building once housed ACE Hardware as its anchor tenant for many years. The incubator contains a variety of restaurants, retail spaces, and a coworking workspace. Food trailers will also be stationed in the parking lot of the shopping center for patrons to enjoy.
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Currently, 80% of the space within the facility has been leased to a variety of small businesses ranging from restaurants to a full-service fitness and rehabilitation center.
The Grow DeSoto Market Place is a 26,000-square-foot space located in DeSoto, TX. This building once housed ACE Hardware as its anchor tenant for many years. The facility has since been repurposed and now houses a variety of restaurants, retail spaces, and offices for small business owners.
Currently, 80 percent of the space within the facility has been leased to a variety of microbusinesses ranging from restaurants to a full service fitness/rehabilitation center.
This public-private partnership is the first of its kind and uniquely caters to start ups in the Best Southwest Region of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan area.
The Grow DeSoto Market Place aids small business owners in establishing and growing successful businesses, while providing the community a fun and unique retail experience.
Our Story
The Grow DeSoto Market Place now exists where ACE Hardware once did. After ACE Hardware left in 2015, a value retail chain tried to secure the space with a 10-year lease. The Mayor and City Manager of DeSoto had another vision for the shopping center. They envisioned creating a space that would assist small business owners with establishing viable businesses, while providing a unique retail environment for the community. The DeSoto Economic Development Corporation reached out to Monte Anderson, owner of the Grow DeSoto Shopping Center, to brainstorm possible ways to re-purpose the space. The idea that stemmed from this partnership was a space that would address the needs of new and developing businesses.
Grow DeSoto: Entrepreneur Pitch Day
In an effort to locate and engage small business owners interested in locating their operations inside of the incubator, the DeSoto Economic Development Corporation, in partnership with the DeSoto Chamber of Commerce, the City of DeSoto, and Options Real Estate hosted Grow DeSoto: Entrepreneur Pitch Day on June 10, 2017. The event allowed entrepreneurs to pitch why their product, service, or startup idea was unique and should be included in the Grow DeSoto Market Place to a panel of judges and participants attending the event.
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Twenty-four small businesses from across the metroplex gave pitch presentations and exhibited at the event. Over 250 people came out and showed their support for these businesses.