First off, our logs show that a number of visitors are coming to the site in search of the vendor application for the new Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market — which, admittedly, is a very encouraging sign. We’ll save you the trouble of looking further. Download it here: http://bit.ly/EGVA2013.
There are other signs that we’re gearing up for a strong launch on Friday, July 19. We have a growing list of committed core vendors, and it seems like we’re adding more by the hour. We’ve had interest from quite a few intermittent vendors, too, who will add some week-by-week variety to the mix.
Those vendor names will be announced once all the paperwork is finalized on July 12. (We naturally assume that people are true to their word, but a signature and a check are awfully nice deal-sealers.)
To add a new twist to the traditional farmers’ market, we’ve also been reaching out to area food trucks. These include some Spokane favorites as well as some who are new to the scene. The great space at Knox Presbyterian allows us the opportunity to experiment a bit, and we think that this will offer a great way to showcase Spokane’s growing food truck scene as well as bring a wider range of patrons to the market. (By the way, if you have suggestions about food trucks you’d like to see, e-mail us or leave a comment on this Facebook post.)
Speaking of the space at Knox Presbyterian, please note that the market location has moved from the one we proposed about a month ago. The Adult Education Center on N. Monroe would have offered great visibility, it’s true, but there were a few downsides to the location, not least the red tape in which we quickly became tangled. By working with Knox Presbyterian, we’ve got a dedicated and enthusiastic venue partner, and it puts us in more strategic proximity to the other neighborhood arterials (like Post and Indiana) while only shifting us a single block east of N. Monroe.
In moving closer those arterials, it means that we’ll need proper signage to make the most of them. If you’ve got time, money, or materials (e.g., plywood, hinges, or even a sign shop) to donate, we’d like to hear from you! We’ll be holding a big sandwich-board-making session in the near future, and the more resources and volunteers we have, the better. Ideally, we want two sandwich boards for each arterial.
The last piece in the publicity puzzle will be press releases and flyers. We can handle the press releases, but if you’ve got some time to spare to help us with a bit of flyering, please let us know. We want to make sure that the neighborhood businesses and churches along Indiana, NW Blvd, N. Monroe, and N. Division all know exactly when and where to find the market — and that their employees and congregations are encouraged to stop by on Friday afternoons.
More updates will follow as the market launch date approaches…
