All the renovations at the Seaport Market and the great repositioning plan are doing nothing for our local farmers market. Go down during the week and only a handful of stores open and almost no customers! Even Saturdays seem to have fewer farmers and crafters. The sellers are too afraid to say anything when asked why the market is so dead… It is a different beast in just two years…what happened to the crowded fun place to shop? —LocalBen
This article appears in Jan 16-22, 2014.
The whole process of the move to the new location was fraught with lies, bullshit, and a few coop board members willing to sell out the enitre co-op for their chance at a ‘store front’ at the new place. How was a samll co-op of crafters and farmers expected to pay for a multi-million dollar building?! It was like the monorail episode of the Simpson’s playing out in slow motion.
It never was. That’s your answer. I couldn’t possibly pick a more far away or more inconvenient place to get my groceries unless we included Dartmouth.
Like Sprious says, the whole thing is a pile of BS from start to present.
The renos are actually an improvement.
I’m the guy who goes to the market for groceries, not knitted hats, beeswax, handcarved bowls, african food, or other non-essential nic naks(thats what value village is for).
Hmm, I wonder who this is referring to:” a few coop board members willing to sell out the enitre co-op for their chance at a ‘store front’ at the new place. “:
In bitter irony, I stopped going to my fave meat monger when given the shittiest cut of beef ever, apparently demand has led to a source for beef other than what is raised on the family plot.
Really wish the Coast would do a number on this.
Farmer’s Market, an euphemism for over priced crap.
The hipsters from the North End have finally worn out their Blundstones and can longer make the trek to Nirvana.
I dunno, its pretty full of SMU and DAL/Kings Kids showing off the latest in sweats and UGGS.
It would be handy if the webpage http://www.halifaxfarmersmarket.com/ listed what vendors are there through the week. Right now it just gives the hours of the market, so its a crap shoot. Going to each individual vendors listing would be a bit tedious, especially if this is all you get for your troubles: http://www.halifaxfarmersmarket.com/rose-l…
Eh. I’ve gone down to the market and nothing seems to be juried in terms of quality of crafters. There’s some GREAT vendors, but I saw some real crappppy shit.
I do my own handicrafts, so I know poorly constructed handicrafts when I see it (I’m SO incredibly picky at what I will even give to someone, let alone SELL — I’ve taken apart stuff I’ve made many times because a seam wasn’t quite right, or a the skirt of a baby dress I’m making didn’t perfectly line up with the bodice at the sides, etc…) — I KNOW what goes into it, and some of it’s just awful. And the prices they are asking? Trying to rip off tourists coming in on cruise ships. It’s disgraceful and the market needs to be a little picker with their vendors. I’m sure some of the vendors that sell the crappy stuff don’t do it on purpose — but the old adage that ‘you can be anything you want when you grow up’ ISN’T true. Some people just suck at making stuff.
On the rare occasion that I go to the place I try to get a Cornish Pastie, other than that, it’s not worth saving.
Of course no-one’s there on weekdays… it was NEVER meant to be an every day market.
People do have to WORK most weekdays.
Students are there during the week because they only have 15 hours of class time a week (and maybe some labs… yes I was a student once. I get you’re busier than that but you get to choose when you do your out-of-class work and aren’t on the clock every day, 9-5 or whatever…)
I never would have thought it would warrant its own building either.. and I’m barely considered sane. Goes to show the breed of nutjobs making the decisions around here.
They sold it to the suckers and rubes as a 7 day a week market because not even an idiot would think that a once a week monorail would make any sense(they were hoping nobody would call their bluff by asking who exactly would fill the space sunday to friday, and it looks like no one did). Even Hitler couldn’t spin doctor that kinda BS.
If you guys want great prices on Nova Scotia produce and meat, go to Gateway Meats in Dartmouth. Best kept secret in HRM
Hey OB …I’m going into Halisux on Saturday …any chance that lady who sells the honey & bees wax is there any more ? That would make taking a side trip down to that place worth it to me.
Zed: they sold it on the premise that cruise ships docking would be cash cows.
And while it isn’t dead when the ships come in, I never really saw many crowds inside, and the ones who were, I didn’t see much buying. Not when 80% of vendors are hawking homemade jewelry.
A boondoggle equal to ‘Concertgate’.
Waste of money and the money was given to the Co-op through the backdoor. I said it would go bust in 12 months and I was right.
Most of the shills for this financial mess were of the leftie/hippie/Dipper/dreamer persuasion as well as loud and persistent promoters of spending taxpayer money on dozy ideas but then complain about the convention centre.
It’d be nice to see the minutes to the BoD meetings to put some names to what was discussed and what exactly they were talking about when it came to spending public money. Alas, I’m sure no such documents exist.
It was billed to vendors as if it was the beginning of a development trend in the area and that the city would magically revolve around it. At the time, the new NS power building was starting up, and NSCAD had or was soon to move in next door. From the beginning, the logistics didn’t work for the farmers. Every day? When I gonna farm, son? And so they had to offer different agreements and rent structures based on the food people needing kitchen space, a crafter still only wanting to come in on Saturdays, etc. Just couldn’t be shoehorned. But it was pushed as the only option by the BOD who also almost all had (successful in the end) bids on a storefront. Although none of those people now have them as far as I know. I think the old brewery space is still going, with OG farmer Ted? Still…I couldn’t live without some of the stuff there. Pasties and eccles cakes, Sweet William, crepes, Steve’s dumplings…gotta support em.
very simple, beyond all the SNAFU about poorly functioning co-ops (as in co-opted), farmer’s don’t need a market waaaaaay down near the seaport. This isn’t the age of sail, we aren’t bartering goods to ships sailing for Jamaica, so why in the hell would you put a farmer’s market in the least possible convenient place for farmer’s to get to, since they have just drove an hour from the Annapolis valley. Ridiculous.
A building on some of the vacant land at Exhibition Park would only make sense to people who don’t live on the Peninsula.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAlWrT5P2VI
Speaking of tourists, whats a Yank on a daypass gonna do with a frozen free range chicken and a handful of organic carrots?
Quit complaining about the past. It is not the management of the Market that determines whether it is successful or not. It is up those people who value local food and who don’t want to throw their hard earned cash into the pockets of agribusiness or large corporations ( with great management but crummy food) to go to the Market and support their favorite vendors
Um, hashtag fail? ^^^