When Yamin Zhou co-founded Riverbed Lifestyle, a design brand for handmade pieces, it meant realizing a dream. That achievement came with the hard realities of launching a business in Seattle.
“Since we’re a small business, we don’t have enough money just to rent a whole place for ourselves,” Zhou said in October. “Labor costs are high. Rent is high.”
But on an unassuming spring Sunday at the Ballard Farmers Market, Zhou stumbled upon a solution: an application for a spot at Smål Market, a new shop incubator and collective of local merchants that’s funded by federal dollars. Smål is the Swedish word for narrow and an intentional nod at Ballard’s Nordic heritage.
“I thought, ‘That’s a perfect place for me,’” Zhou said. Since moving into the space in June, Smål Market has helped Riverbed Lifestyle get off the ground.
Smål Market, 2206 N.W. Market St., held its grand opening on Oct. 25, though its doors first opened for a “soft launch” in June. The collective is the culmination of over two years of work by the Ballard Alliance, a neighborhood and business improvement organization, and the office of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
“I am excited to see The Smål Market formally opening and creating a space for local small businesses to establish themselves and grow in the community,” Murray said in a statement.
How Smål Market works
Mike Stewart, executive director of the Ballard Alliance, said his nonprofit’s idea for Smål Market presents a local solution to two problems business owners face in Ballard and across Seattle: costly retail rent and the large sizes of available spaces.
Estimates by western U.S. commercial real estate firm Kidder Mathews put the average rent for retail space in Seattle at around $37 per square foot.
Smål Market merchants have to meet several eligibility requirements, including being a small local business, having a focus on retail and hitting one to two years of operational experience.
The initiative not only provides 12-month leases to its vendors, but it also offers several perks: retail staff, marketing support and educational programming about business basics like accounting and banking.
“Our hope is that perhaps we’re creating a model that could be used elsewhere across the city,” Stewart said.
Another Seattle neighborhood group, the 15th Avenue East Business Improvement Area, is celebrating the idea.
“More retail businesses mean more foot traffic for everyone else, so Smål Market really lifts the whole community up, much like the Punk Rock Flea Market is doing on 15th Ave. East,” said spokesperson Erin Fried in a statement. “It’s a great model for neighborhood business districts to adopt when the space exists.”
Stewart was at the helm of building Smål Market into what it is today.
He said Murray’s office encouraged the Ballard Alliance to apply for congressionally directed spending to fund Smål Market. The lawmaker’s team began soliciting spending requests in Washington state in early 2023.
That request was submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee in April 2023, and the federal appropriations bill — which included $600,000 for the Ballard Alliance — was signed into law in March 2024, according to Murray’s office.
The Ballard Alliance can use the money over three years for Smål Market, Stewart said. Its contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration began in August 2024.
Later that year, the ground floor retail space where Smål Market now sits became available. The Ballard Alliance’s three-year lease started in January.
The majority of its six vendors — Ruby Laine Apparel, the Ballard Collective, Ballard FC & Salmon Bay FC, Noir Lux Candle Bar, Riverbed Lifestyle and Visit Ballard — moved in over the summer.
Zhou, 35, pointed to the on-site store employees as a win. “That means we don’t need to be physically in the store all the time,” she said.
That factor lets her focus on developing new products, managing inventory and working on collaborations with other artists.
A handmade cup, left, and other items for sale at Riverbed Lifestyle at the grand opening of Ballard’s Smål Market. (Karen Ducey / The Seattle Times)
A handmade cup, left, and other items for sale at Riverbed Lifestyle at the grand opening of Ballard’s Smål… (Karen Ducey / The Seattle Times)
During her year as a tenant at Smål Market, she hopes to learn more about retail marketing.
“I really hope Riverbed can keep growing, so, when we leave Smål Market, we could have enough money to start our own retail store, either in Ballard or someplace else,” Zhou said.
According to Stewart, that’s the goal of the collective.
“We’re really trying to create, ultimately, a pipeline of small businesses that, once they’ve moved through Smål Market, after 12 months, perhaps they might be in a position to lease market rate space hopefully somewhere here in Ballard,” he said.
Rent at Smål Market varies between $850 and $1,500 per month, with the amount including utilities and market staff.
Over the program’s three years, Stewart aims to support 18 to 20 small businesses — and find a way to make Smål Market a long-term fixture in the community.
“Really exciting” holiday season
Colina Bruce, 39, is another merchant at Smål Market. The Renton resident runs Noir Lux Candle Bar, a business she originally started as a side gig in 2020.
At first, Bruce focused on selling her candles online before trying her hand at vendor markets. Then, she began offering candle-making classes.
In 2022, Bruce opened a candle bar — her first brick-and-mortar location — in Belltown. When she learned about Smål Market, “it was an opportunity for us to expand our brand and our footprint,” Bruce said.
She moved into the Ballard market in July, making it the second location for her business. In Ballard, she’s met new customers who later visit her larger space in Belltown.
Bruce said she’s also learning a lot at Smål Market’s workshops and business owner meetings.
The future seems bright to Bruce.
“I’m anticipating that the holiday season will be really exciting for everyone,” she said.
