North Strabane looking to boost farmers market traffic
Jen Nodianos of North Strabane Township and her two children, Anne, 8, and Ben, 5, try samples of Salsa Aguilar, run by Jessica Cumba of Peters Township, during North Strabane's farmers market in the township park Tuesday.
Edwardo Jimenez, left, and Jose Ordaz, who work for Simmons Farm in Peters Township, run a produce stand Tuesday afternoon during North Strabane's farmers market in the township park.
The first year of North Strabane’s farmers market is off to a slow start.
The township decided earlier in the year to have a farmers market every Tuesday afternoon in the township park, between Linden Road and Route 519.
“We just don’t have the foot traffic that we did early on,” said Carl Hall, recreation facilities manager. “We had about 150 people coming through, but now it’s slowing down.”
Hall said the market opened June 18, and started out well, but it’s not getting enough exposure. He said the initial plan was to put the market along Route 19 in a church lot, but the township decided to put it in the park instead to improve the park’s exposure.
“The park committee thought maybe it should be in the park,” Hall said.
He said the township may want to consider moving the market to Route 19 for a couple of seasons to gain exposure, then move it back to the park.
“There are two ways to look at it,” Hall said.
“You could put it out there for a while then bring it into the park, or I think we’ll need more advertising. We’ll have to decide what direction we’re going to go in.”
The market runs from 3:30 to 7 p.m. every Tuesday and typically has between six and 10 vendors. Though they are few, they bring a variety. Simmons Farm of Peters Township has a large spread of produce, while the Kona Ice truck is nearby along with J&D Cellars Winery and Vineyard of Eighty Four.
Some of the vendors said they’d like to see more prepared food vendors. Jessica Cumba, with Salsa Aguilar of Peters Township, is a part-time vendor at the market, who sells homemade salsa and offers samples. She said the township is very flexible with vendors and she’d like to see more.
“I think people are probably looking for more prepared food,” she said.
Nicole and Kevin Kern, of Kern Farms in Eighty Four, sell eggs and chicken and pig products at the market.
“I think it has potential,” she said. “Hopefully, next year they’ll have more vendors.”
Ron and Kathy Swope, of Swope’s Berries and Bees in Avella, are there on Tuesdays selling their specialty cinnamon creamed honey. They said the market needs more advertising and earlier outreach to vendors.
“It takes vendors to make a market work well,” Ron Swope said. “People want a variety.”
Jen Nodianos, of North Strabane, stopped by the market with her two children Tuesday.
“We’re hoping it will grow,” she said. “It’s local, it’s convenient, and it has a playground.”
Hall said he would have a meeting with the vendors in the next few weeks to see how the market could gain traffic in the future.