Public Market closes after 4 years in Tri-Cities. What’s coming next?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Public Market@Columbia River Warehouse in Kennewick has closed after four years.
- Operators pivot the Welch’s plant to Premier Kitchen commercial kitchen and events.
- Vendors relocate across Tri‑Cities; downtown leaders promote available lease space.
Kennewick’s bold attempt to create a local version of Seattle’s iconic Public Market is ending.
The Public Market@Columbia River Warehouse has closed at the former Welch’s plant at 10 E. Bruneau Ave.
The move frees operators to focus on the next chapter for the sprawling food processing plant: Commercial kitchen and event space.
Premier Kitchen is a fully-equipped commercial kitchen being marketed to food producers, food truck operators and event planners.
Officials for the public market and commercial kitchen could not be reached by phone and the office was empty on Monday.
However, a sheet of brown cardboard stapled over the market’s operating hours Monday morning attested to its status.
Several tenants flooded social media over the weekend to announce they were moving to new quarters.
Antojos 509 confirmed it is moving to Kennewick’s Southridge area.
Jamdung Eats Jamaican Cuisine and Catering LLC said it is finalizing a new location in Pasco after serving its last meal at the market on March 22.
“The Public Market has decided to close as a Market,” Jamdung said on Facebook. “Our goal is to reopen in a few weeks in Pasco!”
Jamdung said it would share more after it establishes a new location.
Stephanie Button, executive director fo the Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership, said she’s hopeful vendors who leased stalls at the public market will consider leasing space in the city’s core. HDKP is eager to share information about possible spots.
Button said she’s sorry to see the market close, saying it was a worthy spot that let entrepreneurs do business in public.
“We’re sad to see something like this because it was such a great platform for small businesses to cut their teeth,” she said.
That said, she welcomes the addition of Premier Kitchen.
The fully-equipped commercial kitchen is available to food producers around the clock and will serve as a home base for food truck operators and others. There is a need for such space.
“We look forward to the next chapter,” she said.
The Public Market at CRW debuted in 2022 in cavernous industrial space best known as the Welch’s juice plant near Bruneau and Washington on the eastern end of downtown Kennewick.
The market was a promising if quirky new occupant for an industrial site with a storied history.
The complex of five buildings was constructed for Welch’s in about 1950 and anchored the economy of downtown Kennewick for generations until it closed in 2006. The building sold to J. Lieb Foods, which used it until its own purchase by Refresco Beverages USA.
Corey Bitton of Pasco bought the property for $2.7 million in 2021 intending to lease it to a large user.
When that fell apart, he converted a portion of the space into the public market with room for up to 140 vendors and a “PUBLIC MARKET” sign soaring overhead.
Vendors were able to lease stalls for periods as short as three months. The market opened to the public three days a week and doubled as home to the Kennewick Farmers Market.
Ice Harbor Brewery moved its downtown brewery and restaurant to the warehouse in 2023.
This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 5:54 PM.