MUKILTEO – The Mukilteo Farmers Market has closed, perhaps for good.
After starting like gangbusters in 2004, the market experienced a loss of vendors and customers toward the end of last season. The downward spiral continued into this year, organizers say.
The last day for the market was June 15, in keeping with its Thursday-only schedule.
A move from the Rosehill Community Center playground to a side street in Harbour Pointe, while praised by some, seemed to contribute to the decrease in vendors and customers.
“I think location is definitely a part of it,” market board member Diana Kushner said.
The market attracted more than 700 customers a week in 2004 and 2005, market manager Beth Kearney said. About 20 vendors started last season at the market, but that number dropped to about 10 at the end of the season in October, she said.
This season started in April with only nine vendors and dropped to six by the end of the month, Kearney said. Shoppers dropped to between 400 and 500 per week.
The market didn’t have the same energy last year as in 2004, said Kearney, a Whidbey Island resident who sold meat at the market. The people who came didn’t spend as much money, she said.
“A lot of those (vendors) are my friends, and I can’t say you should be happy with a $100 day when they can go to another market and get six or seven times that,” Kearney said.
Some sellers said Rosehill wasn’t visible enough, and even more said the same about this year’s location on Harbour Place, behind Walgreen’s off the Mukilteo Speedway.
Board members are talking to vendors and residents about ways to resurrect the market. So far, people are saying they prefer Rosehill, according to board member Liza Patchen-Short.
The city charged the market $4,000 for the Rosehill site last year, based on a formula for use of city property, and charged only $300 to close off Harbour Place.
Changing that formula is one option, said Mukilteo City Council president Jennifer Gregerson, a member of the market board. Another option would be to change city law to allow the market to operate at Mukilteo Lighthouse Park, she said. A third choice would be to close off Third Street next to Rosehill for market use.
Kearney said moving to Lighthouse Park, changing from Thursday to a weekend and starting the season later would increase the market’s chances of success.
It’s unlikely the market will start again this year because most vendors have committed to other markets, she said.
“It’s sad for the town, it’s sad for the vendors and sad for the board members who spent a lot of time and energy trying to make it happen,” Kearney said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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