tbantug Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 A few residents and business owners in Westover Village (Washington Blvd. and McKinley in N. Arlington) are exploring the possibility of farmer's market at the Westover Branch Public Library on Sunday mornings, from about 8AM-12noon. If it can get off the ground, would you go? If not, what vendors would get you to go? What kinds of products, locally grown or value-added, would you like to see? Do you think another farmer's market in N. Virginia is a good idea? Two farmers markets that would be potential competition are the Falls Church and Columbia Pike markets. How could a Westover market compete with these other two? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monavano Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 A few residents and business owners in Westover Village (Washington Blvd. and McKinley in N. Arlington) are exploring the possibility of farmer's market at the Westover Branch Public Library on Sunday mornings, from about 8AM-12noon. If it can get off the ground, would you go? If not, what vendors would get you to go? What kinds of products, locally grown or value-added, would you like to see? Do you think another farmer's market in N. Virginia is a good idea? Two farmers markets that would be potential competition are the Falls Church and Columbia Pike markets. How could a Westover market compete with these other two? I can give some feedback here, but first can you tell me if the market will be year-round? Are you flexible with the hours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbantug Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 I can give some feedback here, but first can you tell me if the market will be year-round? Are you flexible with the hours? The hours are probably not flexible. This is because of limited parking. I imagine the market will be year-round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monavano Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 A few residents and business owners in Westover Village (Washington Blvd. and McKinley in N. Arlington) are exploring the possibility of farmer's market at the Westover Branch Public Library on Sunday mornings, from about 8AM-12noon. If it can get off the ground, would you go? If not, what vendors would get you to go? What kinds of products, locally grown or value-added, would you like to see? Do you think another farmer's market in N. Virginia is a good idea? Two farmers markets that would be potential competition are the Falls Church and Columbia Pike markets. How could a Westover market compete with these other two? The weekend got away from me, so I'm back to answer your question and give some thoughts. I would definitely go- I would say I'm an avid vagabond when it comes to farmers markets I go weekly (unless like when my fridge died this weekend (repaired, thankfully)) and I enjoy so many producers from many markets, including Old Town Alexandria, Del Ray, Alexandria West End, 14th & U, Dupont, Courthouse and Falls Church. I have not been to Columbia Pike, which I understand is on Sundays. Geographically, I do not think it is a threat- there is enough space (especially the Rt. 66 divider) between the markets that you will find market-goers from Falls Church that will be very happy to find a closer market than Columbia Pike, and with parking, which makes Dupont kind of difficult, but not impossible. That said, Falls Church is strong competition. It has a lot to offer, especially when it's in full swing during warmer weather. Now, what would be great for people like me who would go either Sat. or Sun. (or sometimes both) to a market is that you would now have a choice. The flexibility works. Vendors- my advice is to be the real deal. Be local, do diligence that the producers are using or growing quality produce etc. that aligns with organic practices or best practices, with things like hormone and antibiotic-free meats and eggs, humane/free range (I know that term is a sticky wicket, but for lack of a better expression)practices, chemical-free growing, earth/soil-friendly methods etc. Next, get the producers to commit. Consistency is very important to me. I understand that some producers will go away for the winter, or take vacation, but lack of consistency in what you offer will hurt the market. For example, Alexandria's West End market is very convenient, and fortunately growing, but it's still in it's infancy at only 3 years? old. Consistency of vendors is problematic. It's like they dabble to see what the traffic and sales are like and then disappear, or show up once in a while. How to decide exactly what to offer is tricky. Old Town is some of the priciest real estate in the region, yet expensive proteins are tough to move. Babe in the Woods was there, but the business wasn't. Yet, non-local produce sells, and bugs the crap out of me, but who am I to tell them to kick someone out of the market? What you need is at least a couple produce stalls, eggs sell very well, baked goods are terrific, cheeses and proteins are great to have. Value added products appeal to many people, especially in winter when the markets are, shall I say, a tad less inspiring. Soups, sauces and specialty products like jams and pasta also are popular at other markets. I want to feel that I've bought local, delicious, quality products. I want to be inspired to go home and make something with my purchases, or eat them as soon as possible. The markets I frequent most are the ones that I feel the effort, time and money spent to seek them out is not only worthwhile, but make me feel... happy. Just don't, for the love of everything holy, put fillers like jewelry stands in there and get a decent website up and running, with email lists. And keep it updated! When marketfan posts about what is going to be at the 14th & U market, I get excited to go. Oh, and samples (Stachowski at Falls Church) as well as Chef at Market (Dupont) demos are really great. The largess is generally rewarded, as evidenced by the many packs of sausage in my freezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodeats Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I think my biggest concern would be traffic flow and parking. This would be a nice in-between location for Falls Church and Arlington-Courthouse markets on Saturday, but Sunday might be nice because then Columbia Pike market would be your only other market competition, with a nice location. Monavano has sound advice. I think if a market is done well, then it shouldn't be viewed as competition but a win-win for buyers and producers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Hi: I live in Waycroft WOodlawn and go to Falls Church market. Most of my neighbors go to the one in Courthouse. Yes, I would go and every weekend. FC is too far away and Courthouse is too much of a clusterF*ck. Here is my fantasy weekly order: 2 doz. eggs whole milk, 1 gal. 1 fresh, never frozen chicken 1lb ground buffalo 1 lb pork chops when in season: a salad full of veg for a week sweet potatoes fruit for three for a week I'll parrot a bit of what was said earlier. Please don't populate it with somebody who goes to a grocery distributor. Also, I love local meat but will not pay 16, 17 or more a pound of local, wild, virgin meat. I"m not there yet and maybe one day I will be. I'll pay more than WF but not double or triple. I just won't. I've been to the westover butcher and spent less than intended b/c I couldn't get over the per pound price. But I"m just me. I don't buy value added stuff and to me, it clutters my market experience but I don't eat much cheese and Heidelberg's is on our weekly route for bread and baked goods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaofun Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 From NOVA Magazine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSPS Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 A few residents and business owners in Westover Village (Washington Blvd. and McKinley in N. Arlington) are exploring the possibility of farmer's market at the Westover Branch Public Library on Sunday mornings, from about 8AM-12noon. If it can get off the ground, would you go? If not, what vendors would get you to go? What kinds of products, locally grown or value-added, would you like to see? Do you think another farmer's market in N. Virginia is a good idea? Two farmers markets that would be potential competition are the Falls Church and Columbia Pike markets. How could a Westover market compete with these other two? Holding the Westover FM on Sunday would go a long way to taking care of the competition problem. For example, I recommend at least one good quality bakery since good quality breads have a very short shelf life. Sure a shopper might buy a loaf on Saturday and wrap it in plastic, but that shopper has just killed the wonderful crust that made the loaf so appealing in the first place. If you can identify new vendors whose products aren't available at other nearby markets that would be another way to deal with competition. For example, the Evarona Dairy makes amazing sheep's milk cheese, but they can't get into the Falls Church FM because Falls Church already has "enough" cheese vendors. Talk about fuzzy thinking. All the FC cheese vendors carry essentially the same cow's milk varieties, especially mozzarella. And, as much as I enjoy good mozz in a Caprese salad, I'd welcome easy access to great sheep's milk cheese like Pecorino and Machengo in the Westover area. I can't be alone in thinking that sheep's milk cheeses are very different from cow's milk cheeses.. Are there any local growers who grow Asian fruits (e.g. Dragon fruit) or vegetables (e.g. Chinese spinach)? If so, including a vendor who sells exotic fruits or vegetables would be another way to differentiate this new market. I hope these ideas are useful. Good luck with your project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodeats Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Much congrats to making the Westover market come true.* The official opening date is Sunday, May 1, from 9:00am to 1:00pm, and end date this season is November 30. Official website: http://westoverfarmersmarket.org/. *Story picked up from ARLnow.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 ARLnow.com re-reported a story from the Arlington Mecury that the tight-arses in Westover got the hours reduced to 9am to noon. The opening day is now Sunday, May 6. Between this and the Beer Garden, the folks in this neighborhood sure like to get their complaining on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 ARLnow.com re-reported a story from the Arlington Mecury that the tight-arses in Westover got the hours reduced changed to 9am 8am to noon. The opening day is now Sunday, May 6. Between this and the Beer Garden, the folks in this neighborhood sure like to get their complaining on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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