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Home Front Desk Year round public market gaining traction
Year round public market gaining traction Print E-mail
The availability of fresh from the farm produce, flowers and homemade items has become a year-round expectation. That appeal is growing nationwide and in Spokane.

The people traffic in the many local seasonal farmers markets now open around the region is evidence of a growing interest in handmade products, locally grown and fresh produce and flowers and other items that come directly from the baker, grower or artist to the consumer.

Now the prospect of a year-round public market is in Spokane’s future. Spokane’s Public Market hasn’t been in a permanent location since 1995 when the then Spokane Marketplace was located in a warehouse at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Division Street. Since then, the Spokane Public Market has moved from location to location, primarily in the downtown area. Consumers and vendors seem to find each other wherever the market migrates–and that may soon be changing for the better.

Spokane’s Public Market appears to have found a permanent home.  A recently announced plan to develop a site seems to be gaining traction among developers, the community and the Spokane Public Market board of directors. The proposed Spokane Public Market location will be the anchor for the renovation of an entire city block which runs north and south between Browne and State streets and east and west between Second and Pacific avenues. The interested parties have enlisted the help of David O’Neil, a marketplace consultant from Philadelphia, Penn., to help them identify issues that could affect vendors, developers and customers.  The new, Spokane Public Market (open year-round) is expected to open sometime this fall. Visit www.spokanepublicmarket.org for current information on the development plans, to volunteer and sign-up for the e-mail list.

Farmers/public markets are growing in popularity in our region and around the nation. It’s big business and it’s good for suppliers and the community. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Census reported more than $1.2 billion in direct farm-to-consumer sales in 2007, the majority of these at farmers markets.  According to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, there are about 5,275 operating farmers markets around the nation.  The Washington State Farmers Market Association says there are about 135 farmers markets statewide generating about $50 million in sales through direct marketing, including 29 locations in Eastern Washington.