Alameda Marketplace
About the Client
Donna Layburn opened Alameda Marketplace in 2002 as an upscale collective of artisanal merchants selling natural and specialty foods. The 20,000 square foot 1930’s-era building was transformed from a vacant Ford Motor dealership to a California-style marketplace with skylights for natural light and open beam trusses for a dramatic open market feel.
Objectives
Galvin Communications was engaged to get the community buzzing about Alameda Marketplace, which needed to attract not only health-conscious customers but also compatible tenants. Our strategy was to elaborate on Donna Layburn’s credibility as a natural foods pioneer and her vision for forming a community of merchants passionate about natural and specialty foods. In addition, we decided to focus on specific, “buzz worthy” tenants to help draw attention to the Marketplace.
Results
Alameda Marketplace was featured in articles in the East Bay Express and the East Bay Monthly which described the Marketplace’s importance to the community and highlighted its unique shopping opportunities.
Donna Layburn was profiled in a Sunday business spotlight by the Oakland Tribune and six affiliated newspapers. The article was an in-depth piece detailing Donna’s commitment to natural foods and her entrepreneurial vision for Alameda Marketplace.
We arranged for Joey Pucci, proprietor of JP Seafood Company and a tenant of Alameda Marketplace, to appear on Gene Burns’ “Dining Around” program on KGO Radio. He discussed his new store opening and promoted Alameda Marketplace to listeners of the number one rated radio station in the Bay Area.
In other capacities, Galvin Communications helped Alameda Marketplace secure a co-branding opportunity with Alameda’s largest recycling company, further reinforcing its commitment to green business practices.