Food Fight : Downtown Merchants Call for the Relocation of Ventura Farmers’ Market, Saying It Hurts Business

More than two dozen downtown Ventura merchants are asking city officials to move the weekly Ventura County Farmers’ Market to another location because they say it interferes with their businesses on Saturday mornings.

The 27 merchants have signed a letter asking to relocate the market from a city parking lot at the corner of California and Santa Clara streets to another parking area behind City Hall.

Another group of downtown merchants, customers and produce sellers, however, is circulating a petition to keep the Farmers’ Market at its current location because these merchants say the Saturday event draws more customers to their shops.

“We feel that the people who come to the Farmers’ Market bring a lot of business to town,” said Cynthia Wood, sales director at the Bella Maggiore Inn across from the market. “I think they should stay right where they’re at.”

The Farmers’ Market has been held in a city parking lot off California Street since January, 1992. It was moved from its previous spot at Figueroa and Santa Clara streets because a new courthouse for the state Court of Appeal is being built at that location. The market operates on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

Farmers said they may lose some customers if the market is moved.

“It’s a dumb idea,” said Peggy Eubanks, who works for Somis-based Underwood Farms. “It’s a perfect spot, and those merchants will actually lose the business.”

But business owners who are pushing for the market’s relocation say their own customers are leaving in droves Saturday mornings because they can’t find parking.

“I thought it would be good for business until I realized it took all our parking,” said Bonnie Mihalic, who owns a costume shop on Main Street. “My Saturday business is 57% down.”

Mihalic said she has not had any new customers from the market drift into her store, which lies next to the market. “When they buy vegetables, their hands are full,” she said. “They don’t buy here.”

City officials said there is no formal lease agreement with the Farmers’ Market, and the City Council could move it to a new location at any time.

Merchants who want to keep the market at its present spot say they plan to submit a petition with more than 600 signatures to the council on Monday.

“It brings people here not only locally, but from as far away as Bakersfield,” said Georgia Boutell, a shop owner who opens her Art Deco store early on Saturdays to accommodate market customers. “It adds a lot to the community.”

The Farmers’ Market is certified by the county agricultural commissioner, verifying that the produce sellers actually grow the fruits and vegetables.

The certification guarantees buyers that they are buying directly from the farmer, a family member or employee.

Market officials said they estimate at least 350 people come to the market on Saturdays, selecting from a wide variety of products, ranging from flowers to red hot chili peppers.

But Bep Korn, who manages a Humane Society thrift shop near the Farmers’ Market, said business has dropped about 30% on Saturday mornings since the market moved in. She said her customers are tired of looking for parking.

“I’m dead set against the Farmers’ Market,” Korn said. “One of our customers last week had to park two blocks away. People who drop off stuff for our store can’t get through.”

On Wednesdays, a smaller Farmers’ Market is held at the Montgomery Ward parking lot, at the corner of Main and Mills streets.

In interviews Wednesday, farmers argued that the proposed move would siphon away customers from downtown, which the city is trying to revitalize.

“It’s a tourist draw to Ventura,” said Larry Stallings, president of the board of the Farmers’ Market. “It doesn’t make any sense to me. They are potential customers.”

Stallings, who sells houseplants at the market, said moving to a parking lot behind City Hall would not be a good idea.

“We need to be visually accessible,” he said. “You’re going to lose the casual customers.”

But some regular patrons said they would follow the market to any new location.

Pat Jump, a 59-year-old property manager who has been coming to the market for more than a year, said she comes for the fresh vegetables and reasonable prices.

“I’ll go where the market is,” she said.