Whittier : Results of First Farmers Market Please Merchants
Whittier held its first farmers market, and the results were better than merchants had hoped, said Janet Crossman, office manager of the sponsoring Whittier Uptown Assn.
“We had a thousand people,” she said. “It was wonderful.” Crossman said the 15 vendors sold $5,000 worth of merchandise. “They were so shocked they couldn’t believe it.”
Twenty vendors have signed up for the next market, which operates from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays on Bailey Street between Greenleaf and Comstock avenues.
Because the market is certified by the state, Crossman said, the produce for sale must pass regular state inspection in order to minimize any danger of spreading agricultural pests, such as the mediterranean fruit fly.
Organizers hope the market will do more than inspire the purchase of locally produced eggs, strawberries, honey, nuts and flowers. The idea is to get shoppers downtown again, to boost a city-center economy that was already hurting before the October, 1987, earthquake decimated buildings and businesses.
For one day at least, “the cash registers were ringing like crazy all over town,” Crossman said.
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