Dresden Row Market is a foodie’s fairground. Its retailers sell diverse products from the newest unidentifiable kitchen tools, to obscure Asian fruits, to micro-brewery beers from Oregon. Although not a market in the farmers’ sense, Dresden Row Market provides a diverse selection of items for both elite grocery snobs and down-to-earth shoppers who want good, wholesome fare. It caters to customers who want to move away from the global grocery chain and the government-owned liquor depot. “It basically has a food tilt to it,” says Ariz David, owner of Cucina Moderna, Dresden Row Market’s kitchen tool store. “It’s a destination foodie-type place.”

The market lies just off Spring Garden Road, which has long been Halifax’s premiere shopping destination. Bruce Christmas, president of Canuck Management Group, which manages Dresden Row Market, has run the building since 1997, long before it became the shopping mecca it is today. Before 2004, the building was mostly offices with a few small restaurants. Christmas recognised the potential in the front of the building’s underused space and empty, open atrium, and decided to overhaul the building itself and the tenants within. “We were fortunate to be able to do something with Pete’s Frootique that brought them in to take a large part of the space, and that meant a $6-million overhaul of the building,” he says.

The move was crucial, as Pete’s Frootique acts as a lighthouse for Dresden Row Market. With a giant, colourful sign that sticks out like a masthead above the pedestrians below, Pete’s boldly lures shoppers inside to explore. Frootique owner, and local celebrity entrepreneur, Pete Luckett expanded his gourmet grocery business from one popular location in Bedford by adding another in Dresden Row Market amid the South End’s condo corral, and his grocery quickly became the catalyst for the market’s overhaul. The store is known for its staff (who could rival Iron Chef Morimoto or Emeril Lagasse in a food knowledge competition) and for its wide selection of obscure produce and British speciality foods.

Melissa McPherson, Pete’s Frootique store manager, says that product knowledge is a running theme in the market. “If you look at the stores, they are all owner-operated. So you do talk to the person who is bringing in the product rather than the person who is just standing there selling it,” she says. “We have very passionate people working here. Our managers are decision makers.”

Christmas thinks Pete’s Frootique speaks for itself. “He has such wonderful variety and such freshness in his produce and such an enjoyable experience that draws people to do their shopping there, and as a result the other tenants benefit from people who are here for Pete’s,” he says. But, he is quick to add that the other stores aren’t just riding in Pete’s picnic basket.

Take Premier Wine & Spirits for example. Picked up a fresh-cut halibut fillet from Pete’s fishmonger? Premier carries the largest collection of local wines in Nova Scotia. Maybe a couple pounds of ground beef for your famous blue cheese burgers? The store also offers the largest selection of micro-brewery beers in the province. “You don’t just have to go to the liquor commission and buy your Keith’s beer and your Captain Morgan rum. There are other things you can drink and he serves that,” says Christmas.

For the most part, business remains strong for retailers at Dresden Row Market despite the global economic downturn. “It has been a difficult market in the last several months but everybody has experienced that… Many of our operations have not. In fact, sales have been higher,” says Christmas. Pete’s Frootique is one of those who have managed to evade economic woes because, as McPherson puts it, “Everyone needs to eat.”

Partnerships and co-operation among stores allow Dresden Row Market to thrive. Premier Wine & Spirits supplies restaurants around the city, as well as Sushi Nami Royal and Snau Bar in Dresden Row Market itself, with its products. While this area of Premier’s business now accounts for almost 30% of sales, the partnership also gives the restaurants an edge, allowing them to support their neighbour while providing a diverse selection of libations.

As Halifax explodes into a tourist and cruise-ship hot spot, waterfront locations like Keith’s Brewery Building and the Historic Properties are becoming challenging competitors. But Dresden Row Market continues to rely on its convenient location to bring in residential customers, and its traffic is supplemented by tourists. “I think [the tourists have] always been down on Spring Garden [Road], but just being that hundred yards away was enough to deter them from coming up the street,” says Jim Foster, owner of Premier Wine and Spirits. “Now that the rest of the street is filling in, I think they are doing it.”

As manager, Christmas is a key member of the Dresden Row Market family, interacting with the businesses regularly. “We talk to them all the time if we can, we try to give them some advice about things they should be doing,” he says. “They know their businesses best and I have general knowledge in retail and marketing.”

It appears the unique products and people-based service of Dresden Row Market will continue to draw Haligonians and visitors — especially if those customers are looking for a 007 gadget-like bottle opener from Cucina Moderna, or a can of Pete’s spotted dick. •