Indoor move gets enthusiastic praise from Farmers Market prez

The president of the Athens Farmers Market Association gave an enthusiastic review Sunday to the market's first experience with moving some vendors inside The Market on State mall.

The Farmers Market has long set up on Saturday mornings (and Wednesdays for most of the year) in the East State Street mall's parking lot, but with cold winter weather coming on, has gotten permission from the mall ownership to move part of the operation indoors.

"It was wonderful," reported association President Ann Tomsu.

She said about 20 vendors opted to move inside the mall, while about seven or eight remained outdoors, either because they sold products such as prepared foods that the mall isn't equipped to handle, or needed more space than they would have gotten indoors.

"We're having both an inside and an outdoor market," Tomsu explained. "The (mall) owners have been kind enough to say we could bring some people inside.

She noted that the mall provided 8-foot tables for vendors to use inside. "They were nice about that," she added.

The plan is to provide the indoor space through the winter season, she said. "We plan to do this every Saturday through March," she said. "Then we'll be back outside."

The indoor space is especially good for vendors who sell products that don't do as well as others outdoors, such as canned goods, Tomsu said.

She said she expects the size of the indoor market to increase. "We expect that we'll have more vendors coming next week," she said, adding that she believes that while it might be a bit of a tight fit, up to about 30 vendors total could fit inside.

"It takes adjustment," she admitted. "We'll see how that goes."

Space inside must be signed up for in advance and is obviously limited.

Currently, the Farmers Market pays an annual rent to the mall for use of its parking lot space, and Tomsu said the rent has not been increased for use of the indoor area. It's not out of the question that that could happen at some point, however, she said.

"This is a new venture, so we just don't know," Tomsu said. "If there are additional costs to the mall, we might have to help pay those."

Based on the project's maiden voyage, however, she said, she believes it's off to an excellent start, and got positive feedback from vendors, customers, and even an employee in the Elder Beerman store, who suggested the market's presence might generate more traffic for the store.

"It was a lot of fun," she concluded.

The Market on State is owned by local businessmen Brent Hayes and Tom Parfitt.