by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Every Thursday for the past 18 months Maria Ferra has dragged herself out of bed at midnight and lumbered toward her kitchen. It takes her six hours to prepare the fresh pastries, Danish, calzones and tarts that her regular customers at the Downtown Farmers Market have come to expect come Friday morning.
After Thanksgiving, Ferra can start sleeping through her Thursday nights; she says she’s not looking forward to it.
Downtown Vision, Inc., informed Ferra and the other vendors that the outdoor market on Hogan Street will close from December through March. DVI started the market about a year and a half ago to draw pedestrians out of their downtown offices. Although DVI says the market was successful in that aim, the market will close due to a lack of vendor parking.
“People have really enjoyed it,” said DVI marketing director Lyn Briggs. “It’s the kind of experience we’re looking for all of downtown, getting people to walk out of their buildings and around our downtown.
“Since we’re coming up on the colder months and people will be taking their holiday vacations, we thought it was a good opportunity to evaluate some things we could improve.”
Until its April reopening, Briggs said DVI would scout for more visible locations with more parking. More vendors could be added to the current group of six. When the market returns, Briggs said it would be better for both the vendors and their customers.
Briggs declined to mention possible locations, citing ongoing negotiations with property owners. Ideally, the market will stay close to Hemming Plaza she said. All of the current vendors will be invited to return.
DVI and the vendors said a lack of parking was the current location’s main drawback. The City sets aside three metered spaces for the vendors, but downtown commuters often take the spaces, forcing the vendors to lug armfuls of flowers, baked goods and produce for blocks.
Although the vendors said parking was a problem, they said the closure would cause significant financial damage. Their customers, many of whom turn out every week, said their Fridays wouldn’t be the same.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Irene Bartlett who trekked downtown on her day off from her Murray Hill residence to pick up Ferra’s fresh-baked cookies. “This place is a godsend for people who spend all day staring at cubicles. I keep hearing they want more people to come downtown; the City should do more of this, not shut it down.”
Ferra said the $300 she usually takes home on Friday supplements her $100 weekday take from her Old St. Augustine Road deli.
“This is a help; it keeps my shop going,” she said. “I don’t want to shut down, I’m afraid my bakery will be dead.”
Ferra said she paid $285 in September to renew her vendor’s permit.
Ed Jenkins said his Moonlight Roses stand pulls in $800 in four hours. He said his Friday earnings equal his weekly take–home pay from his Westside store. He said the downtown location gives him unusual access to high–end customers, some of whom have hired him for weddings and parties.
“This place has been by bread-and-butter for a year and a half,” said Jenkins. “It moved my business to a new level. I’ve built a clientele from people that I’m not going to see walking around 103rd and Blanding.”
Alvin Smalls, known around the market as the Cake Man, said he’ll miss the extra money his baked goods bring in, but because he has another job, he said he would weather the four–month shutdown.
“I enjoy meeting the people, but parking was a real problem,” he said. “This will give them the opportunity to expand the market, and when it comes back, I think it will be an improvement.”