Matthew Shotwell is on a mission to rebuild and rejuvenate his beloved city of Vallejo. The latest iteration of his vision is Vallejo Gardens, a common creative space at 620 Marin Street that will bring new products, fresh foods, arts and crafts to downtown Vallejo.
Vallejo Gardens, located at 620 Marin Street, is part of Matt Shotwell’s mission to revitalize downtown Vallejo.
BC Staff Report
Published: October, 2012
Matthew Shotwell is on a mission to rebuild and rejuvenate his beloved city of Vallejo. The latest iteration of his vision is Vallejo Gardens, a common creative space at 620 Marin Street that will bring new products, fresh foods, arts and crafts to downtown Vallejo.
Shotwell’s mission to revitalize downtown Vallejo began when he established the most successful medical cannabis compassionate care facility in Solano County—bringing increased foot traffic to the ghost town of downtown Vallejo. Shotwell was then instrumental in the passage—by an overwhelming margin of 76 percent—of city legislation to tax medical cannabis distribution, the revenue of which was to be devoted to maintaining vital city services including the fire and police departments, schools, recreational centers and libraries. The same day the tax was to be implemented by the city manager, however, the city police department launched massive city-wide raids resulting in the closure of many dispensaries.
This left Shotwell in search of a new project. Recognizing a need to reduce community blight such as the vacant lots often used as illegal dump sites, Shotwell first began by starting a community garden in a long vacant lot next to his residence on Napa Street. He then reached out to his friend and business partner Kip Baldwin—with whom he had co-created a television show—to develop a new venture.
Vallejo Gardens will be a common creative space that will serve as an incubator for the citizens of Vallejo and the surrounding areas to introduce their visionary products, whether food, arts or crafts to the marketplace and test the viability of those products. Similar to the current pop-up trends in restaurants and retail, Vallejo Gardens will provide a unique forum for community members to develop, experiment with, and test market viability including profitability of new products.
Vallejo Gardens’ immensely successful Labor Day grand opening saw approximately 400 of Vallejo’s residents—including local luminaries such as councilwoman Marti Brown and Vallejo Times columnist Rich Freedman—pass through its doors eager to find quality local and organic foods. Shotwell and Baldwin have decided to double down on this worthwhile and needed gamble by working with the Vallejo’s Co-op’s group steering committee to turn Vallejo Gardens from a once-a-week grocery treat to an everyday downtown quality food shopping destination.
Baldwin and Shotwell’s immediate plans are to continue with the local and sustainable food offerings every Monday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and add a Thursday market from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., which they hope to have up and running by October 4. The Thursday market will help fill the food void that will follow the October finish of Benicia’s seasonal farmers market. Featured vendors at the Monday market are CobbleStone Bakery, Feather River Organic Fruits, Yogi Vegan Indian Cuisine, Hummus Heaven, Popcorn Karma, and FeNella’s Berries, among others.
Additional plans include a Saturday crafts market that will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., coinciding with the Saturday farmers market on Georgia Street. The crafts market will launch on October 6 to help celebrate the art walk taking place downtown from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Featured vendors for the crafts market include Pearls by Roxanna.
Shotwell and Baldwin are also working closely with Vallejo Co-op to open a Whole Foods-inspired convenience store in the front of their building on Marin Street, which they hope to have open before Thanksgiving.
Baldwin and Shotwell also want the community to know their commitment to this being a common place for all citizens of Vallejo to come and develop their ideas and dreams. So whether you are a budding farmer, chef or artist, Vallejo Gardens is here not just to provide the community fish, but to give them a hole where they can catch their own fish.
Vallejo Gardens is calling out to all farmers, food purveyors, temp food facility operators, crafts and art persons of all types, volunteers and investors, who want to be part of this amazing opportunity. For further information, contact either Matt Shotwell or Kip Baldwin at: vallejogardens@gmail.com. Be sure to join their Facebook Like and Group pages and follow them on Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/VallejoGardens?ref=ts and https://www.facebook.com/groups/vallejogardens/?ref=ts and https://twitter.com/VallejoGardens.
