Market move under dispute
By Phillip Lin
April 5, 2006 9:00 p.m.
As the Westwood Farmers’ Market looks to relocate after
its closure last week, some Village business owners said they want
the market to change before it returns to Westwood.
Having run its last event on Weyburn Avenue last Thursday, the
market is looking for a new location. It was shut down by the fire
department for unsafe conditions due to nearby construction.
Market officials said that until the market can find a new
location, it will cease to exist in Westwood.
“We are now racing to find a new spot,” said Donovan
Marshall, a manager of the market.
But many Westwood business owners have voiced a litany of
complaints against the market, citing unfair competition for local
businesses, nontransparent finances, a lack of contribution to the
Westwood community and parking constraints.
Market representatives refute those concerns, saying the market
is beneficial to the Village, and at least one business owner
appreciates the visitors the market brings to Westwood.
One of the primary complaints from businesses was the presence
of prepared-food stands and craft makers at the market.
“The Farmers’ Market has worn out its
welcome,” said Philip Gabriel, owner of Scrubs Unlimited on
Weyburn Avenue.
Gabriel said these additional goods unfairly compete with
currently existing Westwood stores, because these permanent
businesses are required to pay rent while vendors at the market
need only pay a small fee to set up a stand.
“I know that these people make their living here, but so
do we,” he said.
Though he could not be reached for this story, market owner
Aaron Shapiro has said the market likes having the prepared-food
vendors and handmade crafts to provide those resources to customers
in a “European-style” market.
But had the Westwood merchants known that the market was going
to include these goods, they would not have agreed to allow the
market into Westwood to begin with, Gabriel said.
Jessica Dabney, a board member of the Farmers’ Market
Educational Foundation, which funded the market, said it was her
understanding that much of a farmers’ market’s income
comes from prepared food and crafts, but because the future of the
market depends on agreement with merchants in part, those services
may have to be eliminated.
But while some store owners have problems with the current
market, others said they value its ability to draw customers into
the area.
“I am very sad that it’s gone. It was a real
treasure,” said Joe D’Amore, owner of
D’Amore’s Pizza Connection, a restaurant that sold
pizza by the slice at the market.
D’Amore said that while he experienced less business in
his restaurant on Thursdays during market hours, he believed the
extra exposure his restaurant received has generated additional
business on other days of the week.
“I know it might have hurt business a little bit that
day,” he said. “But when 3,000 people a day see your
name, it has to help in the future,” he said.
Another issue Gabriel had with the market was its financial
transparency.
“We don’t know the expenses of the market and what
goes in and out,” Gabriel said. “We want a market
that’s accountable financially.”
Gabriel said nonprofit farmers’ markets are supposed to
have their account books open to the public, but he believes that
public access to the monetary daily operations of the market has
been limited.
Dabney said there is no requirement for the market to be
financially transparent, but added that the market was very
transparent during its operation in order to please local residents
and businesses. She said community outreach meetings were held four
times a year, publicized throughout the Village by fliers, with one
of the meetings devoted to publicizing the market’s projected
budget as well as its tax returns for the past year.
Other business owners said they have not seen the market
actively contribute to the Westwood community.
“I enjoyed the Farmers’ Market, but I did not think
it was fair that the people who ran it did not contribute to the
city,” said Gizelle Strohkendl, one of the owners of Mural
Chastanet Fine Jewelry on Glendon Avenue.
Dabney said the market has been involved in Westwood
beautification projects over the past few years, which include a
project that repaired the median on Westwood Boulevard. She said
the market contributes $200 a month to these projects.
Though she said the market may have contributed money to
Westwood, Strohkendl said she never saw any indication of financial
contributions by the market during its time in Westwood.
Another issue some store owners had with the market is its drain
on available parking spaces.
Jon Vogel, owner of Village Eyes Optometry, said the market
hurts his business by attracting several visitors who use up
parking, making it difficult for his patients to find nearby
spaces.
“The market is taking business away from
businesses,” Vogel said.
With reports from Derek Lipkin, Bruin senior staff.
