Westwood Farmers’ Market expected to close
The Westwood Farmers’ Market is expected to close down Thursday after 17 years of operation.
Market managers announced the closure last week after months of declining revenue and patronage.
It was once a fixture in Westwood Village on Weyburn and Glendon avenues, but moved five years ago to its current location at the Veterans’ Garden on Constitution Avenue off of Sepulveda Boulevard. A newer Westwood Village Farmers’ Market now operates weekly on Broxton Avenue.
Aron Yoffe, a patron who has attended the Westwood Farmers’ Market every week for two years, also remembers shopping at its previous location.
Most of the market’s foot-traffic came from UCLA students, faculty and staff, said Yoffe, a 2009 UCLA alumnus with a doctorate in chemistry.
In its new spot, the market receives far fewer people, he said.
Visibility was also hurt by a lack of directional signage, said manager Jen Ford. But the “last nail in the coffin,” she said, was the 405 Freeway widening project.
Traffic now gridlocks Wilshire and Sepulveda boulevards on weekday afternoons, including the noon to 5 p.m. window occupied by the market, Ford said.
“It takes people 30 to 40 minutes to get here from right down the street,” she said.
Despite living near the market for eight months, it was Brentwood Glen resident Sean Brugger’s first time to the market on Thursday.
Brugger, who was a post-doctorate student at UCLA from 2003 to 2005, said he would expect people to avoid the market because of the traffic and its early closing time.
“It’s hard to come to (the market) because it closes at 5 p.m.,” he said. “It makes it hard for people unless you are stay-at-home.”
Ford acknowledged the market’s hours can be limiting for some patrons. She said the market primarily accommodates lunch crowds from Veterans Affairs, who have become the market’s largest source of revenue.
With a small but loyal customer base, vendors and buyers alike said they are sad to see the market go.
“It’s a beautiful lot,” said Carolyn Wallace, who runs the Wallace Comestibles stand at the market. “Vendors like being here. It’s shady. It has great parking.”
Market management is now looking for a new location to house the market, including the Federal Building in Westwood, Ford said. It is unclear if a site can be secured.
Yoffe said he has spent time contacting UCLA to see if the administration would be interested in hosting the market on campus, but so far has had no luck. He said the administration has cited safety violations with a weekly market.
Neither market manager and co-founder Mark Wall nor the VA could be reached for comment.
