07/20/2026
By now, most people have heard that Northside Marketplace will be closing it's doors. I have been a vendor in the marketplace for 4 years, and during that time I was almost always losing money even having a booth open. I stayed as long as I did because it's close to my home and I desperately wanted to see this space thriving. In November of 2025 I realized I hadn't received a payment from the marketplace all year. I reached out to the proper channels and then proceeded to go through a very rough time in my personal life and the money was my last thought. I reached out via email multiple times for updates in the beginning of the year and spoke in person to Justin about the payment issues. I received a random payment but no further communication. Once Akron Honey went public with the information that no one was being paid, I pulled my inventory and stopped my auto payments for rent (which was $100 a month for the last 4 years) . I have not been contacted by the Testas nor anyone else involved with the marketplace. I have seen articles claiming Justin contacted vendors about the payments being late and that the Testas have emailed warning us about the closing. These are lies. Not one vendor was contacted; we have all been blindsided by this closure. I appreciate the flood of support to my business page, but I am still currently on a hiatus for orders because of those personal issues I have been dealing with since November. Make sure you shop small and support those vendors who relied heavily on the marketplace for their livelihood. Shop directly with the vendors not through the marketplace. I will try to link directly to the vendors pages so you can support them. We do not have a full list of who was vending and no one can give us any real answers. This has been an extremely upsetting experience and while I was only shorted a few hundred dollars there are vendors who are out thousands of dollars in merchandise and sales. Please please help support them ❤️
