_{Bonde Mercado Taps Cohere Creative Studio to Build a Vibrant Brand in Philadelphia}

When Shontel and I wanted to develop our vision for Bonde Mercado, we knew that Cohere, a creative studio rooted in Philadelphia with operational outposts in Baltimore, Brooklyn and now Miami, would be a great fit. Founded by Antoinette Marie Johnson, Cohere works with brands in the food and beverage, hospitality, and real sstate industries to execute their vision with a keen focus on place-making. The team also includes the impressive Chris Richards as a partner and leader of Business Development and Erik Oberholtzer of Tender Greens as a strategic advisor. With clients like Starr Restaurant Group, good neighbor, HipCityVeg and The Rittenhouse Hotel, they pride themselves on helping brands of all sizes as they embark on the ambitious goal to “help cities reach their full potential.”

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What we love about Cohere is that they take the client-agency relationship deeper than most agencies. They regularly host The Founders Salon Series, which Johnson stated “is all about creating community out of the need to help one another in our next stage of growth." Bonde Mercado was lucky to attend one of the gatherings at a recently opened Mindspace location in Williamsburg where Cohere invited more than two dozen founders from their Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Baltimore portfolios as well as entreprenuers they admire. The day began with an introduction from Johnson as she welcomed the founders from various backgrounds and stages in their business and careers, and the day was dedicated to the founders sharing their brands, their current accomplishments and challenges, and the ways they are looking to grow and connect.

The chance to meet and learn from some of our favorite brands like Teranga and The Pie Hole as well as Philadelphia-based founders behind Treats By Teem and Ivery League Design provided a synergy and enthusiasim for collaboration that the team at Cohere has mastered. The event was catered by Inday and the tablescaping was executed flawlessly by Citrine PHL.