The impromptu urban townlet Granary Row is coming back for its second season. On May 23, the Row will have its soft opening, after which it will run every Friday and Saturday from 6 to 11 p.m. starting May 30 until September 20. Last year’s Row felt like a continual block party with everything you’d want in one narrow strip, including live music, food trucks, shops and beer. This year’s season shouldn’t be any different. ---

Last year, the non-profit Kentlands Initiative picked out a section of 700 South in Salt Lake’s semi-abandoned Granary District and decided to place a mini community right, smack-dab in the middle of two lanes of quiet traffic. 

Granary Row was born with a focus of push-starting new businesses by giving them a shipping-container storefront in which to get their feet wet with the hopes that good business would lead them to their own brick-and-mortar location. Last year, Diabolical Records made the successful jump from Granary Row to a permanent alleyway storefront on 238 S. Edison St. in Salt Lake City. Just Fold, which sells foldable bikes, also found a permanent location at 350 W. 700 South after a fruitful run at the Row.   

This year brings a slew of new shipping-container shops, including Spice Kitchen—a non-profit that helps refugees get on their feet by learning how to turn their native cooking skills into a business—a boutique with women's and men's bags, and an as-you-wait bike repair shop. 

Other new storefronts include the Utah Humane Society and The Bookstore, which is a collaboration of three local book vendors. With a mission statement of supporting up-and-coming entrepreneurial ventures, including these well-established names puts Granary Row’s goal into question. But Granary Row is also about bringing out the full potential of the neighborhood and creating a safe, creative, thriving place where families can live, work and play. What better way to promote safety and play than bringing in fluffy Humane Society kitties and puppies?

This year will see the return of the Biergarten—brought by Uinta and Pierpont Place—as well as Stacey Foster’s storefront, Mineral & Matter, a stage for live music and food trucks pulling up savory chow. Granary Row will also host events again this year—like last year’s masquerade ball or the First Annual Baconfest—which have yet to be announced.