{"id":327836,"date":"2020-08-10T06:04:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-09T20:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=327836"},"modified":"2020-08-10T06:04:58","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T20:04:58","slug":"kada-dia-everyday-market-opens-in-ck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/kada-dia-everyday-market-opens-in-ck\/","title":{"rendered":"Kada Dia \u2018Everyday\u2019 Market opens in CK"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Kada Dia Market is located next to the U.S. Post Office in Chalan Kiya. (MARK RABAGO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you want to enjoy chalakiles, Hawaiian shaved ice, and shawarma under one roof? Then mosey down to the newly opened Kada Dia Market beside the U.S. Post Office in Chalan Kiya.<\/p>\n

James Matsumoto, managing member of BPJ Ventures, LLC that owns the Kada Dia Market property, said Kada Dia literally means \u201ceveryday\u201d in Chamorro.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought it\u2019s the perfect name since we\u2019ll have many vendors selling different types of food and products. So many varieties that you could visit every day and not get tired of it,\u201d he told\u00a0Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n

Matsumoto modeled Kada Dia after the popular Thursday street market concept at the Garapan Fishing Base. \u201cA lot of people enjoyed the Thursday street market atmosphere and I thought it would be great to have a place like it but on a permanent basis. The Thursday market was only once a week, so if off-island visitors weren\u2019t here on a Thursday, they would miss out on all the fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

As set up, Kada Dia has room for 13 permanent vendor stalls and from eight to 10 temporary vendors on the weekends or nights.<\/p>\n

So far, Kada Dia vendors include the Borja family selling their popular chalakiles soup and a variety of other Chamorro food; Couples Cakery offering their beautiful and delicious cakes, cupcakes, and coffee; Mermaid Bubble Tea Shop; Lyn\u2019s Barbecue; a Hawaiian shaved ice and hotdog vendor; a shawarma and burrito vendor; and a Filipino cuisine vendor.<\/p>\n

Kada Dia has three non-food businesses. Talofa Lava sells beautiful island style\u00a0mwars,\u00a0lava lavas, and accessories; Chelu Aynez Enterprises sells jewelry and toys; and Micronesian Modular is an affordable living consulting company.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Kada Dia has room for 13 permanent vendor stalls and from eight to 10 temporary vendors on the weekends or nights. (MARK RABAGO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEach vendor\u2019s operating hours will vary, but most will open from mid-morning to the late evenings. As the name implies the Kada Dia Market will be open every day,\u201d Matsumoto said.<\/p>\n

BPJ Ventures, which is named after Matsumoto\u2019s children\u2014Brandie, Patricia, and James\u2014built Kada Dia at the strategic intersection because of the heavy foot traffic in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother, Augusta Blanco Matsumoto, was granted this property as her homestead and she later gave it to my parents, John and Patricia Matsumoto, who owned and operated the J.M. Cinema, the islands\u2019 only movie theater at the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In more recent times, the Matsumoto family leased the property to Kevin\u2019s Department store and grocery, but the building burned down in February 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we had a high traffic location, being next to the main post office and at the entrance of Chalan Kanoa that businesses would find attractive. So we decided to redevelop by upcycling six used 40-foot cargo containers to utilize the small lot efficiently and to help keep the cost of construction down. We are pleased to see our mini commercial spaces are receiving a positive response,\u201d said Matsumoto.<\/p>\n

Aside from vendors selling everything and anything under the sun, Kadia Dia is also envisioned as a sort of community center right in the heart of Chalan Kanoa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are open to hosting entertainers, school competitions, and possibly mini-concerts or events. We also intend to make space available for non-profits and public outreach programs.\u00a0 Once tourism is back we anticipate the Kada Dia \u2018Everyday\u2019 Market will be a must-visit spot for our off-island visitors too,\u201d added Matsumoto.<\/p>\n

Like other businesses on island, COVID-19 has had a negative effect on Kada Dia even before it opened. \u201cThe COVID-19 situation caused us to delay opening a few months, but we are optimistic [that] most [of] our vendors will get to open this month. We appreciate our government\u2019s practical and reasonable approach to the coronavirus safety measures, which all our vendors will be adhering to,\u201d said\u00a0Matsumoto.<\/p>\n

As far as safety concerns in the midst of the pandemic, Matsumoto said Kada Dia Market has open-air seating and is bathed by the sun\u2019s UV light each day \u201cso we feel we are a safe place to visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the Kada Dia Market or to inquire about the remaining vendor slots, call Kada Dia Market at 483-6985.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no place like the Kada Dia Market on Saipan. It\u2019s a unique venue and it\u2019s going to be a fun place for the whole family as there will be something for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you want to enjoy chalakiles, Hawaiian shaved ice, and shawarma under one roof? Then…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":327837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3601],"class_list":["post-327836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-ck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}