Heads up D.C., there’s a new way to shop local and Black-owned in the District: The organization behind the forthcoming 11th Street Bridge Park is launching a mobile kiosk featuring Black-owned businesses that will debut at the Anacostia River Festival this weekend.

“The Bridge Spot,” as it is called, was designed by the River East Design Center and is meant to support entrepreneurs from east of the Anacostia River as part of the bridge park’s equitable development plan. The 11th Street Bridge Park, which will be built on the now decommissioned 11th Street Bridge over the river between Navy Yard and Anacostia, is aiming to open in 2026.

Eventually, the kiosk will sit in the actual park so that visitors can “experience the small businesses in the area,” according to Kia Johnson, equitable development manager for 11th Street Bridge Park.

But for now, the kiosk will pop up in various locations around D.C., starting this weekend at the Anacostia River Festival in Anacostia Park with spices, herbs, and teas from Plum Good, a business owned by Angela Chester-Johnson.

The 11th Street Bridge Park organizers partnered with the Anacostia Business Improvement District (BID to identify Plum Good and seven other Black-owned businesses to feature in the kiosk this year. The Bridge Spot will visit locations throughout the region for the rest of the year, including Eastern Market, NoMa Farmer’s Market, Franklin Park downtown, and the National Capital BBQ Battle.

“The kiosk is designed to increase sales and visibility east of the river for small businesses,” says Kia Johnson.

Businesses with less than $200,000 in annual revenue, whose owner’s primary residence or business operations are in wards 7 or 8, and who have an active business license were eligible for consideration in the pilot program. The selected businesses will rotate once a month in the kiosk and will include:

• Angela Chester-Johnson, PLUM GOOD 
• Akua Tay, Connected to Culture
• Sariane Leigh, Anacostia Yogi
• Rhlinda Rhodes, Mane Rhodes Soap and Wellness
• Shawnette Monroe, The Kitchen Physician
• Katrina Norman, The Beautiful Brown Rainbow
• Keisha Cofield, Blum Tea
• Jacqueline Bush, JackiCan

Johnson says the goal of the program is to provide not only more visibility for businesses east of the Anacostia river, but also provide help with sales and marketing, with an eye toward helping entrepreneurs build generational wealth. That support is free of cost for participating businesses.

Shawnette Monroe, the founder of The Kitchen Physician – an apothecary providing natural herbs, prayer, and a holistic approach to healing mind/body/spirit – is a part of the first cohort of the program. She says that applying to the program was an easy process compared to other grants and programs with stricter, more specific criteria.

“I hope that this program would impact my business by providing me the accessibility and visibility for people to learn more about the Kitchen Physician,” Monroe says. “I don’t want it to just be in Ward 8, but I want it to go throughout Washington, D.C.”

Park organizers will select other businesses for future cohorts to sell from the mobile kiosk. And once 11th Street Bridge Park opens, even more businesses can participate, Kia Johnson says.

Plum Good will occupy the kiosk through the month of June. If you want to know where you can catch The Bridge Spot next, check out its full calendar here.