Italian Market has strategy for filling empty stalls

With half the curbside stalls in what used to be called South Philly’s Italian Market empty, City Council is loosening the rules for who can run one.

It’s officially called the Ninth Street Market and Michelle Gambino, business manager of the South 9th Street Business Association says limiting people to owning just two stalls is leaving 50 percent empty.

“We want to keep the tradition, we want to preserve it for the next 100 years,” said Gambino. “So the legislation will allow the association to take over the delinquent stands and populate them with business of like mind so that street will offer more shopping options for shoppers and therefore better place to be.”

Gambino says the association wants to bring more variety to market.

“You want to offer shoppers as many options as possible and you want to keep it exciting and fresh and entice them to come down and shop from the stands.”

She says the hope is to get those empty stalls filled next year. A council committee has approved the rule change.