Mercado San Agustin Annex - Tucson Arizona

MSA ANNEX

The MSA Annex is an addition to the Mercado District. With a new-fangled sense of design and aesthetic, the Annex at the Mercado is filled with raw flair and fresh ideas! All of the stores housed in the Annex are individually owned and operated. the Annex’s initial purpose was to promote and advance Tucson Small Business'. The MSA Annex is still up and running, a perfect place for locals to roam around on the weekend, or even for a curious Tucson tourist!

The Annex's Logo

https://www.google.com/maps/place/MSA+Annex/@32.2186557,-110.992273,15.32z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x86d671bb7965c6e3:0x4a69b87a35e8d0f3!8m2!3d32.217954!4d-110.9843566

The Annex stands out among other Tucson social centers due to its unique design. All of the shops and eateries are housed inside of recently modified shipping containers. The construction was planned and created by architect Paul Weiner. Paul is a well known architect in the Tucson area as well as the owner of DesignBuild Collaborative. Weiner studied at the University of Arizona where he majored in Architecture and Critical & Significant Environmental studies. Not only does he work to blend desert architecture with modern structure, he focuses on sustainable design. Respecting the desert Landscape and the Tucson views, Paul was a perfect fit to create what now stands as the MSA Annex.

The modern annex vision is mixed with the Mercado’s Spanish colonial style, creating a melting pot of different desert influences. The annex serves as an entirely outside "mall" or area, with all seating and restaurant amenities taking place outside. Although the immense desert heat seems to be a turn off to an idea such as this, the Annex has worked to implement shaded areas and cooling tactics to make this outdoor plaza an appealing visit year-round.

The merchants inside of MSA Annex consist of: Avenue Boutique, Beaut burger, DIRT, Dust and Heritage, Flam Chen, Fletcher and Co, Hermosa Coffee, Kukai Fresh Japanese Kitchen, Luca Ryann, Mesa, NOW or NEVER, Transit Cycle, Turntable, Westbound, and Why I Love Where I Live.

Avenue Boutique: A women's clothings store, focusing on high-end fashion and complementary accessories. This is their second location, you can also visit them at 3050 e. Broadway Blvd, 85716.

Beaut Burger: (520) 344-5907 A restaurant with plant-based burgers. Gluten-free options are available.

DIRT: A boutique specializing in objects of energy, including items such as potted cacti, incense, tarot, and more.

Dust and Heritage: They sell vintage home decor and hold events for interior design and staging. Email: [email protected]

Flam Chen: A performance group that creates, performs and tours new circus and fire theatre, since 1994. This location is used not only for their work, but to also produce artworks and a variety of different events.

Flam Chen - new circus and fire theater

Fletcher and Co: (520) 477-8128 A family photography business that specialize in minimalistic nature-prints and portraits.

Hermosa Coffee: (520) 838-0750 A modern coffee-shop that sells different coffee drinks and pastries.

Kukai Fresh Japanese Kitchen: A restaurant serving Onigiri, Donburi, Hand Rolls, Ramen bowls, and more.

Kukai

Luca Ryann: (678) 983-1102 A women's clothing store focused on minimalistic and modern staples.

Mesa: A store that sells handmade and locally sourced small furniture and home-goods made by Midtown Artisans and select local artists.

Now or Never: (480) 676-0076 They sell a variety of different gifts, home decor, and all-natural skincare projects.

Transit Cycles: (520) 396-4525 This shop was actually relocated from the Mercado, and specializes in equipping people to use bikes as a more prominent form of transportation.

Turntable: A furniture store that designs and builds durable, transformative furniture.

Julian Secomb, designer and owner of Turntable Furniture.

Westbound: (520) 867-8308 A specialized bar by Tap & Bottle that focuses on craft beer, wine, and spirits. You can also pick up bottles to take home.

Why I Love Where I Live: (520) 422-5770 A store that encourages people to love Tucson by promoting different swag and other items based off of Tucson's desert scene.

Not only is it a regular social hub, The Annex also constantly holds a variety of different events throughout the year. From different holiday scheduled events to partnered smaller happenings, and private occasions, they’ve got it all! For their continual events, every Friday they have live music at Westbound from 8pm – 10pm. Every Saturday they have their “Saturday Courtyard Music,” where people can walk around and enjoy the shops and restaurants while listening to some tunes! The Annex also offers up a form that you can fill out if you are interested in holding your own event! All these incredible things - and there's still more! The annex not only supports the housed business in it, they have established different nights in which many local small business' and/or startups can come table at the Annex and sell a variety of other goods!Along with that - the Annex holds its own flea market! The Mercado Flea is returning for its 3rd season, this October (2019), for every second Sunday of the month. The market takes place from October through May and is located in the parking lots between the Mercado and MSA Annex. Stretching from Congress Street to Cushing Street, you can find dozens of vendors between the hours of 8am - 2pm. If you're interesting in becoming a vendor, spots are only 40 dollars, and you can contact them about it at this email: [email protected] !

Along with its smaller events, the MSA Annex just held its second annual music festival on October 5th called the West Coast Music Festival. They partnered with Club Congress to bring IceCube, BlueFace, Kurupt, Luniz, and the Ying Yang Twins to the MSA Annex & Festival Grounds, of the Mercado San Agustin. It's one of Arizona's flagship hip-hop events. With General admission, Pit seats, VIP and Super VIP tickets, there was something for everyone. As one of Tucson's only Hip-Hop festivals, the MSA Annex has proved to put itself on the board for the music scene here in Tucson, and will remain a prominent among many other festivals!

The MSA Annex's Facebook is where you'll want to go to find out more about what's going on, and up and coming events. Their page has 3,700 likes and 3,891 followers! It's here that you'll see advertisements and notes about each and every event they have coming up, as well as updates about their 15 retail and dining establishments! The Annex uses their Facebook as their main form of communication with people, and allows you to see posts from other Tucson locals or visitors. There is an abundance of photos from photographers all around Tucson, as well as people's personal photos, snippets of articles, and reviews about the different restaurants and events.