PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend Farmers Market, now ranked as the seventh largest in the state, is adding under its umbrella the Chimacum Farmers Market for a “country identity,” market manager Will O’Donnell told the Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
“The Chimacum vendors asked us to help them grow in sales,” said O’Donnell, who during the past 10 years founded small agricultural enterprises out of the Port Townsend market — Finnriver Farm, Taboo Farm and Mount Townsend Creamery.
Speaking to more than 40 attending Monday’s Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Elks Lodge, O’Donnell said the Chimacum Farmers Market would be relocated — possibly to the Chimacum school parking lot because the original Chimacum Grange location on Rhody Drive has limited parking space.
“They want a country identity,” O’Donnell said, describing the difference between the Port Townsend Farmers Market and Chimacum’s, which he said was vendors operating out of the tailgates of their pickup trucks, which contrasts with the upscale ambience that is the Port Townsend market.
Markets’ schedules
The Chimacum Farmers Market opens at 10 a.m. Sundays, beginning on May 16 at a location to be decided. The Chimacum market runs through October.
The Port Townsend Farmers Market opens at 9 a.m. Saturday in uptown Port Townsend at Lawrence and Polk streets. It runs until Christmas.
The Saturday market’s hours have been extended to 2 p.m.
The 3 p.m. Wednesday Port Townsend market opens June 1 and runs until September.
O’Donnell said the Port Townsend market’s goal is to increase sales opportunities for its existing vendors and grow opportunities for newcomers.
The uptown market is limited to 75 vendors, O’Donnell said, because when market vendors found a loss in sales they located farther from Lawrence Street.
Farm, crafts sales
Success in nearly $900,000 in farm and crafts sales last season, O’Donnell said, is because “we’ve got a real committed community.”
With an 11-member board, there are no plans this year for relocating the market to a more expansive site, such as the city and school district’s Mountain View Commons or Jefferson Transit’s Haines Place Park and Ride, which have been considered in the past.
In the past, market leaders have discussed possibly developing a covered permanent site for the market.
He said the Port Townsend market is now one of the largest “small-town” markets in the nation.
More than 70,000 shoppers annually visit, and the Saturday market averages about 1,500 shoppers.
The market is successful in large part because of its volunteer force, which donated 850 hours to help keep the market operating, O’Donnell said.
Sales in those using food stamps and credit card have also seen dramatic growth in recent years, he said.
Food stamp sales rose to $5,300, the market and Olympic Community Action Programs reported, and O’Donnell said he expects it will grow to $10,000.
The market and OlyCAP has also joined to offer market food to those with the Women, Infants and Children and senior nutrition programs, he said.
Last year, there were $35,000 in credit card sales, another new market offering.
New to the Port Townsend market this year, the ReCyclery, a nonprofit bike repair advocacy program, will deliver farmers market food to homes within a limited radius of the market.
________
Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@ peninsuladailynews.com.
