Greenport Farmer's Market Grows Business for Vendors

The Greenport Farmer’s Market opened for business over Memorial Day weekend in the Adams Street parking lot and has been steadily building up business since then.

“Business is good. I’m happy with the progress,” said Lara McNeil, president of the Greenport Farmer’s Market, Inc.

McNeil said June is a notoriously slow month for farmer’s markets and said she teamed up with the markets from the South Fork to promote the concept and let people know the market existed. Last weekend business was very good, she said.

Each week the market has 14 to 16 vendors. McNeil said her group has been doing hourly counts to track business. She says at the high points there are 50 to 60 people in the market at a time.  McNeil says she tends to see local people at the market when it first opens and then by about 10 a.m. business really picks up until the noon closing time.

McNeil said several of her vendors sell out each week and even the wineries do well at the venue.

“People out here really embrace the concept of buying local,” she said.

Blossom Meadow Honey is one vendor whose product sells out every weekend. Owner Laura Klahre confirmed she has been doing well and selling out of her honey each week. She is pleased with her sales but  said she is also enjoying becoming friends with the people she sees at the market each week. She is also promoting awareness of bees and has an observation hive in her booth.

“The big thing for me about being here is educating people about bees,” Klahre said.

The only real problem the market had when it first opened, according to McNeil, is people parking their cars in the parking lot overnight and taking up some of the market space. Organizers now have cones and signs out to avoid problems with the space.

McNeil said the fears of limited parking in the village have not hurt the market. She said she says many people who visit the market walk there and sometimes bring their dogs.

The group has received additional applications from potential vendors but McNeil said they cannot accept craft vendors or vendors who do not have proper licenses. She says the nonprofit booths have been doing great and getting exposure for their causes.

The Greenport Farmer’s Market as the organizers originally wanted to see the market set up in . After a public hearing in April where the public overwhelmingly disapproved of a commercial venture in Mitchell Park, organizer reviewed other proposed locations and decided upon the

“We had some bumps in the beginning, but now we’re doing great,” McNeil said.

The Greenport Farmer’s Market is open on Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon through Oct. 15.