A sidewalk café blossoms on Grand Avenue in the West Grove.
Judith’s Market, a gourmet boutique, has been lighting up the upper section of Grand Avenue with fairy lights, conversation, and good coffee for nearly two years. It is a twinkling success in a relatively business-barren area of the Grove thanks to owners Judith and Range Watson’s homemade menu and friendly presence.
Open every day but Monday, customers walk into a cozy interior or lush outdoor patio at 3870 Grand Avenue to greetings from Judith herself. The market is primarily a coffee shop but doubles as a gallery and storefront for the product that started it all: honey.
In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Watson couple sought a change and began selling honey at farmer’s markets. They purchased two beehives from a local vendor and began bottling the honey to be sold in markets across Florida. The two beehives quickly multiplied to 1,000 and the desire for a permanent place to sell their honey blossomed.
“You can’t sustain a place like this with only honey. So, then we started thinking out of the box. What can we make of it? We can make it a coffee shop and we can sell goods,” Judith said.
The couple got a good deal on a property that had shuttered during the pandemic and turned it around in just a few months. The concept and menu behind the market was crafted by her husband Range, a chef with a background in art sales. He then gifted and named the boutique after her, trusting her to run the day-to-day operations.
“The formula of success here is her and her husband. They’re just wonderful people that welcome you in with open arms and you feel at home, and you want to help them out,” said friend and frequent customer Tensie Forry.
Part of Judith’s Market’s charm is you never know if you will be walking into a quiet study space or bustling event. On any given day you can find an impromptu French lesson, wine tasting, sip and paint classes, or a charcuterie board workshop. It is part of Judith’s plan to draw in customers from all interests to keep business alive, a creative outlook she inherited from her mother.
“My mom used to be the queen bee. Among her whole family she was always the leader in her home world and parties. Then I kind of took over because I was able to have resources in Cuba where pretty much everyone has nothing.” Judith said.
“The business is an extension of my life in that way.”
It’s also technically her first job, she explained. In Cuba, her birthplace, Judith studied pharmacy, but never put the degree to practice because the wages were too low. Judith immigrated to Miami about 13 years ago where she met her husband Range, “the most social guy on earth,” and they began to build a life together.
Now she and her husband have made their livelihood creating a space to bring the neighborhood and artisan community together.
Customers like Forry appreciate the new gathering spot.
“I feel like I finally have a spot right where I can come have coffee or I can have wine. Nobody judges you and you meet people that come in and they’re so nice. I have met so many neighbors here that I would have never met otherwise,” Forry said.
Through the summer, Judith’s Market will be hosting live music and artisan markets.
For all its successes and endeavors, the business is in need of more customers. The location is not ideal for foot traffic and the store is often sped past on the way to US-1. The street is also dimly lit. Without her string of lights, the business would be left in the dark.
“It is a beautiful place; I love the location. I’m happy, I just need more traffic,” Judith said.
Judith currently works six days a week from open to close and can’t afford a full staff. Still, she is holding out hope for this location and her dream of expanding Judith’s Market as a franchise that combines her warm welcoming service with beautiful spaces and tasty dishes.
“If you have a dream, go for it. It’s going to be hard but you can do it,” she said.
Editor’s Note: Portions of the Spotlight’s interview with Judith Watson were translated by Tensie Forry.
