Even by the usual standards, business has been slow at the Golden Triangle’s two largest farmers’ markets, as market directors, vendors and customers are taking a cautious approach during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I can’t say I’m really surprised or even disappointed,” said Katherine Lucas, who manages the Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market in Columbus. “Over the years, the market starts off slow then really picks up during our peak months, which are June and July and into August. It’s slow to begin with, but a part of that is by design.”
In past years, Lucas would be doing everything possible to bring in large crowds. This year, instead, a fair amount of attention has been devoted to limiting crowd sizes as a precaution against spreading COVID-19.
“We’re not allowing kids or pets right now,” Lucas said. “We’re also not allowing craft vendors. Right now, it’s just food items exclusively.”
In the three weeks since the market opened, there have been eight, six and 10 vendors selling their food items at the Columbus market.
Starkville Community Market, which opened five weeks ago, has had about eight to 12 vendors. On Saturday, there were 10.
As it is in Columbus, some of the light traffic is by design, said market director Paige Watson.
“We only allow 20 customers into the market at a time,” Watson said. “In the past, it was a community event and we had programs to draw and keep people at the market. Now, it’s more keeping the traffic moving. We’ve put links to our vendors on our website, so people can make and pay for their purchases and then pick them up. All of the things we are doing are trying to keep people safe, both our vendors and customers.”
With the peak months of June and July approaching, both Watson and Lucas hope to relax restrictions to bring more vendors and customers to the market.
In past years, the Starkville market peaks at anywhere from 20 to 25 vendors. In Columbus, there are as many as 35 vendors during the market’s peak months.
In anticipation of that, both Lucas and Watson hope to bring in special events and programs to enhance the markets’ appeal.
“We haven’t done any programming for the market yet,” Watson said. “We’re going to follow the (safety) guidelines that are in place, but hopefully, some of those will be relaxed. The programming really draws customers and improves sales for our vendors.”
Lucas said she hopes to offer programs and events — many of them focused on children — next month.
“If not June, we’re really hoping to have some programming in July,” she said. “We have plans for a big petting zoo in July, and we’re still hoping we’ll be able to do that. The market isn’t just about buying and selling for us. We’ve always considered it a community event. We can’t do that right now, but we’re still planning some events for later.”
West Point’s farmers’ market usually opens in late May, but director Lisa Klutts said she decided to delay that until June 4.
“We just didn’t feel like with everything going on with the coronavirus, there would be much business for us,” she said. “So we’re waiting and that will give us some time to watch what’s happening in Starkville and Columbus. We always kind of take our lead from them. Our hope is that, even with the later start, we’ll get back to whatever normal is in June or July.”
Vendors
As for the vendors, they are not sure exactly what the rest of the market season will look like.
“It’s really hard to make that evaluation because it’s so early,” said Mel Ellis, whose Mayhew Tomato Farm is one of the top sellers at the Columbus market. “We’ll begin to see where things are going in the next couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure the virus will have some effect. I just don’t know how much. A lot of that depends on how safe customers feel they are. Being a realist, I have to say it’s going to have some negative effect.”
Sam McLemore of Bountiful Harvest Farms, one of the top vendors at the Starkville market, is a little more optimistic.
“I’ve been at the market in Starkville for three weeks now and business is definitely slower,” he said. “I’m an optimist at heart. I really do think it will pick up again and we’ll have a good market season. That’s just my feeling.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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