Ten years ago, a row of former Maryland National Guard garages behind the historic Bel Air Armory began a second life. Today, those spaces are home to the Armory Marketplace, where small businesses can test ideas, establish customers, and grow toward something bigger.
Established in 2016, the Town of Bel Air-owned Marketplace is a retail-focused business incubator created from 22 former garages, with much of the original conversion funded through grants. Four suites are reserved for emerging businesses, while a fifth houses the Gallery of Harford Artists Association, a permanent tenant that also serves as Bel Air’s Visitors Center.
For entrepreneurs selected through a multi-step application process, the Marketplace provides something particularly valuable during the uncertain early years of business ownership: time. Tenants can remain for up to three years with flexible, below-market-rate leases while receiving marketing, coaching, technical assistance, and opportunities to build community partnerships.
Businesses “graduate” when they have grown enough to move into permanent locations, ideally elsewhere within Bel Air. Five businesses have made that transition since the program began, according to Angela Robertson, Director of Economic Development. The current Marketplace includes Cozy Cookies, Twisted Roots Rare & Common Plants, Odd Bird Bookshop, Afro Kouture, and the Gallery of Harford Artists.
For Twisted Roots owner Savannah Bailey, the experience became about much more than establishing a storefront. “We came here as a tiny business, still figuring out what Twisted Roots could become,” Bailey said. “The Marketplace gave us a place to put down roots, take chances, grow, and most importantly, find our people.”
Over three years, Bailey said customers became friends and neighboring businesses became family. “We wouldn’t be who we are today without our journey here, and I’m forever grateful we were able to call The Armory Marketplace home,” she said.
The Marketplace’s longest-standing resident has witnessed that evolution from the beginning. Harford Artists’ Association became its first tenant in 2016, and its gallery anchors the northern end of Bel Air’s Arts and Entertainment District.
“We were fortunate to have the opportunity to relocate our Gallery to the Armory Marketplace when the Marketplace was first established in 2016,” Harford Artists’ Association President Kim Bender said. “Through the Marketplace, Harford Artists' [Association] has experienced increased visibility, enabling our organization to grow through artist membership, art-based programs, and support from the community as a whole.”
Art extends outside the storefronts, too. Visitors can find the Art Works! mural by Frederick artist Jack Pabis at the Lee Street entrance, along with a Little Free Art Gallery, sponsored by the Bel Air Cultural Arts Commission, where visitors can leave or take an original piece of artwork.
The Marketplace has received numerous accolades as well. Between 2017 and 2019, the project earned five honors recognizing its historic preservation, sustainable growth, community impact, and excellence in construction, including awards from the Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission, and Harford County.
Now, a decade after the historic garages were transformed, the Marketplace continues to do what it was designed for: giving new ideas room to become established businesses while continually bringing new shops, people, and possibilities to downtown Bel Air.
The Marketplace gave us a place to put down roots, take chances, grow, and most importantly, find our people.
We wouldn’t be who we are today without our journey here, and I’m forever grateful we were able to call The Armory Marketplace home.