URBANSPACE

What URBANSPACE does

Urbanspace Markets is a private, New York-based operator of seasonal European-style holiday markets and a year-round Shopify e-commerce storefront. Founded in the 1970s and active in NYC since 1993, the company runs four flagship physical markets in Manhattan: the Union Square Holiday Market (~200 vendors), Columbus Circle Holiday Market (100+ artisan booths), the Macy's Holiday Square Market at Herald Square, and the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park (180+ vendors, free ice skating, and The Lodge après-themed area). The Bryant Park market is the company's largest event in North America, drawing over 4 million visitors in just over two months. Urbanspace also operates the spring-season Bryant Park Makers Market across four May weekends with 150 local vendors.

The company monetizes primarily through vendor booth rental fees at its seasonal markets, supplemented by title sponsorship (notably Bank of America for the Bryant Park property) and transactional e-commerce revenue across 4,149+ SKUs in electronics, jewelry, home goods, personal care, and fitness categories. Vendor pricing is not publicly disclosed and applications are managed through a screening process. The business is asset-light, reportedly operating with approximately five employees while outsourcing platform technology to Shopify and relying on a curated pipeline of SMB artisans, craftspeople, and small entrepreneurs (typically under $1M annual revenue) as its vendor base. Marketing is conducted through Instagram, the company website/press blog, email newsletter, and earned media.

The business model is fundamentally seasonal and geography-concentrated: roughly two months of physical market operations (Thanksgiving through New Year's) in four NYC public-space locations drive the majority of value creation, with the e-commerce channel providing limited year-round extension. Urbanspace holds a Flagship partnership with Bank of America that anchors both brand and revenue at Bryant Park. The company has been independently recognized as operating the "Best Holiday Market in America" (Yelp, 2023) and the "Best Christmas Market in the World" (Planet Cruise, 2023).

Name

URBANSPACE

Legal name

Urbanspace Markets

Website

https://urbanspacemarkets.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Urbanspace Markets operates four seasonal European-style holiday markets in premier NYC public spaces (Union Square, Columbus Circle, Herald Square, Bryant Park) plus a year-round Shopify e-commerce store, renting curated booths to hundreds of SMB artisans and drawing over 4 million visitors to Bryant Park alone.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Holiday Market Operations

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Holiday, Seasonal & Christmas Markets (MPAGAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Seasonal & Party Variety Stores (CRAGAJAE)

Keywords

• Holiday market operations
• Seasonal retail markets
• Urban market development
• Vendor booth rental
• Artisan marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Market Vendor Rental Fees: Urbanspace generates revenue by renting vendor booths and kiosk spaces to artisan vendors, retailers, and food & beverage operators at their seasonal holiday markets across NYC locations.
2. E-commerce Sales: The company operates a Shopify-based online storefront selling third-party products across various categories including electronics, home goods, jewelry, and personal care items.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Urbanspace operates seasonal outdoor holiday markets in premium Manhattan public spaces (Union Square Park, Columbus Circle, Herald Square, and Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park), renting 100–200 booth and kiosk spaces per market to local artisans, craftspeople, designers, and food & beverage operators during the Thanksgiving-through-New Year's season. The company also runs a year-round Shopify-powered online storefront selling third-party products across electronics, home goods, jewelry, personal care, and fitness categories.

Product overview

Urbanspace Markets operates as a multi-location market operator offering seasonal physical markets and an e-commerce platform. The core offerings include four distinct holiday markets: Union Square Holiday Market (185+ vendors), Columbus Circle Holiday Market (100+ artisan booths), Macy's Holiday Square at Herald Square, and Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park (180+ vendors). The company also operates the Bryant Park Makers Market during spring seasons. In addition to physical markets, Urbanspace maintains an online Shopify-based store with over 4,100 products spanning electronics, jewelry, home goods, personal care, and fitness categories. The company, founded in the 1970s and operating in New York since 1993, has developed 50+ projects transforming urban spaces into community gathering destinations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Union Square Holiday Market Seasonal outdoor holiday market at Union Square Park featuring nearly 200 vendors with unique gifts created by local craftspeople, artists, and entrepreneurs. Named the best holiday market in America in 2023 by Yelp and draws approximately 2 million visitors annually.
• Columbus Circle Holiday Market European-style holiday market with over 100 artisan booths showcasing unique handcrafted gifts including jewelry, home décor, specialty foods, and festive treats. Located at Columbus Circle gateway to Central Park.
• Macy's Holiday Square Market (Herald Square) Interactive holiday destination in one of NYC's most iconic retail corridors, transforming Midtown near Macy's into an immersive seasonal environment with curated retail, festive installations, and interactive experiences.
• Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park NYC's most iconic holiday destination featuring over 180 artisanal vendors, unique food options, a free ice skating rink, and The Lodge après-themed area. Named the best Christmas market in the world for 2023.
• Bryant Park Makers Market Seasonal spring market at Bryant Park featuring 150 local vendors offering one-of-a-kind handmade items, held over four weekends in May with market hours from 11 am to 7 pm.
• Urbanspace Online Store Year-round e-commerce platform powered by Shopify featuring over 4,100 products including electronics, jewelry, home goods, personal care items, and fitness equipment sourced from various vendors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park named best Christmas market in the world (2023)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Bank of AmericaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerBank of America is the title sponsor of the Winter Village at Bryant Park (Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park). They also co-run the Small Business Spotlight program, a NYC-based initiative empowering local entrepreneurs with annual revenue of $1 million or less. The 2026-2027 program is accepting applications for the upcoming season.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Renegade Craft Fair: Operates large-scale artisan and craft fairs across multiple US cities with curated maker vendor rosters. Directly comparable to Urbanspace's model of monetizing premium locations through curated artisan vendor booth rentals.
• Brooklyn Flea: Long-running NYC weekend marketplace featuring vintage, craft, and food vendors. Comparable curation-driven marketplace model and SMB vendor base, though it operates year-round and skews weekend rather than seasonal.
• Smorgasburg: Largest weekly outdoor food and artisan market in NYC with multi-location presence. Comparable in vendor booth rental economics, public-space activation, and curated SMB vendor base, though Smorgasburg is food-weighted and year-round.
• Grand Holiday Bazaar: Operates a holiday/seasonal market in NYC competing for the same artisan vendor pool and tourist foot traffic. Directly comparable as a peer NYC holiday market operator targeting the same Thanksgiving–New Year's window.
• Artists & Fleas: NYC-based curated marketplace operator with multiple locations featuring independent makers, designers, and artisans. Closely overlaps with Urbanspace on NYC footprint, vendor curation approach, and small-business vendor base.

Broad incumbents

• Chelsea Market: Iconic NYC indoor marketplace with curated food and retail vendors in a single high-traffic location. Comparable as a destination marketplace monetizing location and curation, though it is permanent indoor real estate rather than seasonal outdoor.
• Etsy: Large online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods serving artisan sellers. Comparable as a curated marketplace monetizing artisan/SMB vendors, though entirely digital and global rather than a physical seasonal operator.
• Eataly: Multi-location Italian-themed marketplace blending curated retail, food service, and experiential elements. Comparable destination-marketplace business model at scale, though much larger and broader in scope than Urbanspace.

Emerging players

• Faire: Wholesale marketplace connecting independent brands and retailers. Comparable on the SMB artisan/vendor ecosystem side and could be viewed as a digital complement or competitor to Urbanspace's vendor pipeline.

Regional players

• Christkindlmarkt (German-style Christmas markets): Traditional European-style Christmas markets, with US iterations in cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Bethlehem, PA. Comparable European-style holiday market format that Urbanspace explicitly emulates in NYC; relevant as a format peer and potential geographic expansion template.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/urbanspacemarkets
• Instagraminstagram.com/urbanspacemarkets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urbanspacemarkets

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about URBANSPACE