Mother Road Market is creating booming business on Route 66
It is not La Boqueria in Barcelona or the Fulton Fish Market in New York City. The Mother Road Market — Tulsa’s new food, farm and retail hall — is a unique space adapting the traditional market to northeastern Oklahoma.
It is not near an ocean, but some of the nation’s most fertile farm land is within minutes of midtown Tulsa.
“We are in a very rich area for home-grown farm products, innovative chefs and entrepreneurs,” said Jeff Thompson, general manager of the Mother Road Market. “Tulsa has long been known as an every-man city. We’ve been used as a test market for many years.
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“So if this concept works anywhere, it should be here. So far, so good.”
The Mother Road Market, developed by the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation, has been a hub of activity since it opened at 11th Street and Lewis Avenue.
Tulsans have embraced the idea of a food hall, with 15 food options and five retail spaces, on a piece of historic Route 66 that is undergoing a renaissance.
“When you see pictures of Seattle, one of the iconic scenes is Pike Place Market,” said Thompson. “Because of where we are located, right on Route 66, I believe we have a chance to be an iconic location on one of the most famous roads in the world.”
Like most food hall markets, the days start early and at a frenetic pace.
Bakers start working at 4 a.m. By 7 a.m., locally grown produce and other farm products start arriving for the Farm Stand, a small farm-to-market space that works with 27 local farmers.
“Everything is grown in Oklahoma, most of it very close to Tulsa,” said Penni Shelton, coordinator of the Farm Stand. “We like to say everything in our space tastes like Oklahoma because all of it — 100 percent — is grown in this area.
“So far, it has far exceeded everything we thought possible. We have so many farmers that want to be a part of it, but we have limited space. But, no question, this has been as popular — actually much more popular — than we expected.”
If you think the Mother Road Market is busy at lunchtime on Saturday, try it any morning around 9 a.m. before the doors open at 10 a.m.
Deliveries are being made to all of the 15 food stands. Farmers are bringing locally produced milk, cheese and meat to the Farm Stand.
“This place will change with the seasons,” said Thompson. “No question, when it comes to the spring and we start getting some of the locally grown vegetables and fruits, it will change.
“This market will continue to evolve. It will change. Some things will work better than others. That’s typical of a market like this.”
Any of the famous markets change through the seasons and as the tastes of a region change. The Ferry Building in San Francisco remains extremely popular, but it is different now than it was five years ago.
Currently, there is a waiting list of entrepreneurs/chefs wanting space at Mother Road Market.
“It is sort of like putting together a rock band,” said Thompson. “You go out and get a drummer and a guitar player and singer. They all might be great individually. But you have to see how those people fit together to make beautiful music.
“Right now we’re seeing how all of these individual food and retail stands work together.”
So far, fantastic.
Thompson said the sales volume at the market has exceeded all estimates by more than 170 percent.
“In many cases, it is double what we’ve expected,” said Thompson. “So we are still kind of feeling our way through this. We’re doing what we can to make adjustments and make this the best experience possible.”
Thompson said Mother Road Market did a lot of research before deciding on what type of businesses and foods would work best for Tulsa.
“We certainly looked at a lot of other markets, but every city is different,” said Thompson. “The good news is that I believe we got it right in a lot of ways. When we were planning for this market, we had more than 5,000 followers on Facebook, so we got a lot of feedback from people in what they wanted.
“We have a good mix of iconic Tulsa brands like Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue and Andolini’s Sliced to new Tulsa-born ideas such as Bodhi’s Bowl and Chicken and the Wolf.”
A handful of food stands, including Big Dipper Creamery, are operated by entrepreneurs from the Kitchen 66 Launch Program, a food business incubator in Tulsa.
Bodhi’s Bowl is a food stall that’s gone from idea to actual business thanks to Mother Road Market.
“One of the great things about this market is all of the energy created here,” said James Wegner, chef and owner of Bodhi’s Bowl. “When I get here in the morning, it is a hive of activity. … All of the people that work here are arriving to prep for the day. You’ve got all of the deliveries being made to the various restaurants. And I’m right across the hall from the Farm Stand, and you see the local farmers bringing in their products. It is a very cool place early in the morning.”
Thompson said he can’t estimate how many people are visiting Mother Road Market.
Obviously, anyone who has been to the market on Saturday mornings, with the winter farmers market in the parking lot on the west side, knows there is a traffic jam in every direction getting to 11th and Lewis.
“We estimated we needed about 600 customers a day to support everything we have here,” said Thompson. “I don’t have any specific numbers, but I can assure you we’re doing far more than that every day.
“This is a unique space for Tulsa. We think people have embraced this idea, and we expect Route 66 visitors to make this a must-stop on the trip from Chicago to Los Angeles. We’ll continue to change and evolve.
“The idea for this market has added another jewel for Tulsa just like Gathering Place. It is another cool thing to do and a reason to stop and spend some time here.”
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/columnists/johnklein/john-klein-mother-road-market-is-creating-booming-business-on/article_c3104e6e-dc07-5eb3-b0c0-1124d64c30c1.html
