July 30, 2020

The Honorable Gina M. Raimondo

The State of Rhode Island
Office of the Governor
82 Smith Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903

Dear Governor Raimondo,

I am writing to you on behalf of 50 Rhode Island minority owned and financially challenged small business
owners, employees and their families facing collapse. Like many other small businesses, we were unable
to pay our rent for 3 months as a direct result of the shutdown. As a result, we have been served an
eviction notice. Our landlord Ann & Hope is literally trying to put us all out on the street even after it was
reported by Channel 10 news that they received over a million dollars of economic stimulus before
announcing the closure of all of their Curtain and Bath Outlets. Prior to the pandemic we were never late
on paying our rent.

This business has been operating for the past eleven years at the Ann & Hope complex in Cumberland.
We at Bargain City are not focused just on profitability but on job creation and small business
sustainability. Where else in America can a person have a chance of earning extra income for their family
with an investment of only $40 per weekend to rent a store front?

During the 12 weeks we were shut down, we maintained the facility as per contract by keeping our
maintenance crew on the payroll and paid to continue our insurance coverage and security. Unlike the
malls we did not charge any of our small businesses rent or storage fees during all the weeks of the
shutdown. Our landlords at Ann and Hope asked us for a re-opening plan two weeks before we were to
reopen, which we submitted to them in a timely manner. We spent considerable amounts of money
meeting and exceeding the Health Department’s regulations. We installed plexiglass barriers, one-way
floor decals and hand sanitizer stations for anyone that walks in and out our doors including restrooms.
After all that preparation, 7 days before our planned re-opening, we received a letter from the Chase
family ordering us not to re-open our business which would also include the livelihood of 50
disadvantaged community businesses, their employees and families. As you can imagine, we were
devastated.
We are not asking you for a handout. We are respectfully asking for a hand in locating a suitable,
affordable new location to keep a place in Rhode Island. A place where excluded and financially
challenged families, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, the elderly (retired) and women owned
genuine small businesses can operate.

Bargain City is a genuine Rhode Island Public Marketplace and small business incubator. A Public Market
Place is a vehicle for social integration and upward mobility, smart growth, and community revitalization.
Our Rhode Island Independent Zone is well suited to fill a host of crucial roles as small business incubators
providing social and economic benefits to minority and low-income communities. Bargain City is not only
an excellent marketplace offering an interesting shopping experience to more affluent groups but is also
an economic engine and a social gathering place that builds communities and promotes environmentally
conscious shopping through a continuous flow of recycled goods. (Culture Unbound, Volume 7, 2015)

We are a Public Market that generates substantial economic benefits, particularly to low-income,
immigrant and minority entrepreneurs, many of whom lack access to traditional forms of capital. Public
Markets serve as launching pads for new businesses, allowing existing entrepreneurs to experiment with
minimal risk and become a vehicle for individual and family self-empowerment.

It is the combination of economic and social impact that separates a public market from “big project”
economic development. Many common types of big projects, such as highway construction, office
complexes and convention centers have disrupted the urban fabric, drained life from public spaces, and
in many cases leads to further economic stagnation. What’s more, many jobs generated by these projects
are temporary. Throughout the United States, public and private agencies are beginning to recognize that
new definitions of “urban revitalization” and “economic development” are needed. That’s precisely where
public markets like Bargain City come in.

• Public Markets provide people, who are otherwise excluded, opportunities to participate in an
American market economy and consumption outside the mainstream culture, while also building
a larger community shared interest. Recycling and selling leftover items from the household,
merchandise clearances, services, repairs, and close-outs offer a platform to keep small business
alive and progressing with low overhead.

• Bargain City functions as a place where individuals in marginalized communities can bargain for
an assortment of new and used items at affordable prices. Thus, allowing these individuals to
take part in the informal economy. This is made possible due to the low overhead of sellers
operating in Public Marketplaces. This is in contrast to the ubiquitous retail shopping experiences
offered in shopping malls through large corporate chain stores.

• Numerous lower income and marginalized groups depend on public marketplaces to meet their
needs each week. Public Markets make it possible for people who struggle to survive the
opportunity to make it in a world with limited opportunities.

• Consumer research on city places demonstrates that there is an abundance of corporate

investment with empirical focus on the department store and shopping malls. There is
 extraordinarily little investment by governmental authority in community based small business
and public marketplaces in particular. (Du Gay 2004; Bubuisson-Quelier 2007)

• Bargain City would be a great format to work with the Department of Labor in providing training
and education to those who are on public assistance to teach on the job entrepreneurship through
our program of business development.

As a direct result of low operating costs for vendors, Public Marketplaces such as Bargain City generate
new tax paying businesses for the state of Rhode Island. Over the past year Bargain City has been a magnet
for attracting small independent businesses from failing malls in Massachusetts such as the Swansea Mall,
Emerald Square Mall, and Silver City Malls.

As you can see there are many benefits in keeping a public marketplace like Bargain City in Rhode Island.
We respectfully ask for any assistance regarding relocating to another location. Any advisement as to
where affordable locations could be, would be greatly appreciated.

Governor Raimondo with this project you can take the lead in New England and make Rhode Island a
beacon for showcasing the benefits of public marketplaces in assisting disadvantaged members of its
community in realizing the potential of self-empowerment through financial reward. Our plans will make
it possible for 100 of these businesses to operate.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,

Melanie Parent and Joshua Masters