BOISE It’s the last remaining neighborhood market in Boise: the Roosevelt Market. It has sat along Elm Avenue in the East End serving people of all ages for more than 100 years.
“People refer to it as home,” Roosevelt Market co-owner Nicki Monroe said.
A home where people gather to grab the occasional drink or talk about the latest gossip.
“They know your name when you walk in, they're very friendly, they take care of the kids," Jackie George, who lives in the East End, said. "it's just very personable and home feel,”
Recently, that gossip has turned to worry. The building that houses the market is now up for sale.
“Every day you just don't know. I mean, will we be here next month,” Monroe said.
Monroe, along with her business partner, Susan Wilder, have operated the Roosevelt market for more than a decade.
“We watch those children over there grow up and they start coming in here when some of them started at babies and they're in high school now,” Wilder said.
Memories come February that could come to a close as the Roosevelt’s lease is set to expire.
“Totally unknown. It all depends on who buys it. What they have to pay for it, what they want to do with it. It's totally out of our control,” Monroe said.
Although ownership of both the market and the building have changed hands of the years, one thing has always stayed constant: The name in East Boise.
“It really would be taking a piece of Boise's history along with it to close this place down,” George said.
The building is owned by both Mark and Kealy Baughman. The Baughmans released the following statement to KTVB regarding the listing of 311 N Elm Ave.:
“We initially bought the Roosevelt Market building because we treasure it so much and wanted to keep it just as it was. Due to personal and financial reasons we are unable to keep the building under our ownership. We are optimistic to find a buyer with similar vision as our family, which is to preserve the hub of the East End.”