Monshe, a keto-friendly dessert business founded by Melissa Groneveldt, will be the Yard Opportunity Shop’s first occupant. Photos by Jack Delaney.
By JACK DELANEY
jdelaney@queensledger.com
Melissa Groneveldt stood behind a gleaming counter stacked with cookies, as the room filled with gentle chatter.
Outside, it was a grey day: on Flushing Ave, commuters waited for the B69 bus under a dreary sky. But here in the Yard Opportunity Shop (YOS), the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s newest retail space, the vibes were immaculate.
The YOS, which launched on Thursday, February 26, is an incubator program that will provide a rotating cast of local minority- and women-owned businesses with a pop-up location to sell their products without needing to commit to an expensive lease.
Brooklyn royalty attended the ribbon cutting, including Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who said the $300,000 his office earmarked for the initiative was a “small token” of what he’d like to give, and the Navy Yard’s top brass — Lindsay Green, who leads its economic development corporation, and Board Chair Hank Gutman.
Yet the guest of honor was Groneveldt, founder of the wellness-driven bakery Monshe, who is kicking off a six-month residency at the YOS.
“It means everything to me,” said Groneveldt, a four-time author, certified nutrition coach, and entrepreneur who lives in the Bronx. “This journey has been a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of crying, a lot of second guessing. What pushed me forward was my daughter — wanting to create a legacy for her, something she can look back on and say how proud of me she is.”
Groneveldt first conceived of Monshe in 2020. She was going to the gym four to five times per week, but found that the processed desserts available at her supermarket were nullifying the benefits of exercise. After workshopping recipes for a year, she launched a store on Etsy in 2021 and has now sold over 70,000 of her sugar-free and keto-friendly cookies.
“Here, you’ve achieved the impossible,” said Gutman, thanking Groneveldt shortly before the ribbon was cut. Then he flashed a grin: “You have satisfied my incurable yearning for a good cookie — and you’ve done it in a way that will keep me from getting in trouble with my wife.”
Serwaa and Kenneth Darpoh of Socie-Tea 7. Photos by Jack Delaney.
Monshe owes its name to Groneveldt’s mother, Monshelia, who worked for the city for more than 40 years. “She always told me that whatever you do, own your own,” said Groneveldt. “I took her advice.”
For the grand opening, Groneveldt also invited fellow small business owners who share her mission: Madeleine Defonce of MD Wellness Dynamics, which contributed mushroom-infused lattes, and Serwaa and Kenneth Darpoh, the Bed Stuy-based duo behind Socie-Tea 7.
The Darpohs offered attendees a taste of three subtle but compelling herbal teas. They come from disparate professional backgrounds — real estate for Serwaa, and music and television production for Kenneth — but when he gave her a $500 cast-iron teapot as a birthday gift early into their relationship, having only intended to spend $100, it blossomed into a shared passion.
Also present was Courtney Washington Joiles, an award-winning fashion designer who manufactures his clothes in the Navy Yard and sells them out of a pop-up in Bed-Stuy, off Tompkins Place. His stall showed off his most recent women’s line, which features airy “pucker” fabric tailored for an “elegant resort look.”
Joiles started his imprint, eponymously titled Courtney Washington, in 1998. Back then, it was headquartered on Fulton Street in Fort Greene. When the economy crashed in 2009, he was forced to shutter, but the Jamaican-born designer has revived his operations over the past two years.
“Most of our clients travel, and it travels amazingly. There’s never a need to iron,” said Joiles, holding up a salmon-textured top. “And these items are completely washable.”
Several days before the opening, Groneveldt — who gave birth only eight months ago — received a text from her eldest daughter saying everything she’d been hoping for. Now, buoyed by the support of her family and her mother’s legacy, YOP’s first resident entrepreneur is hoping to give back.
“This is not the only thing I want to do with this space,” said Groneveldt, as she surveyed the L-shaped room. “Maybe a pitch competition — something to show entrepreneurs that as long as you persevere, anything’s within reach.”
