Fresh-food lovers may soon notice changes at two iconic farmers markets in metro Atlanta.
The 50,000-square-foot Sweet Auburn Curb Market, which attracts more than 1,500 people a day, recently held a rededication ceremony to show off $1.8 million in improvements and repairs, including restoration of the building's brick facade and a new roof. The improvements were made possible with $789,040 from the federal stimulus package and $1.1 million in community development block grant funds.
Across town, Your DeKalb Farmers Market, a grocery staple since opening in 1977, proposes to grow from its current 140,000-square-foot space -- about the size of a Walmart Supercenter -- into a 518,000-square-foot retail mammoth on Ponce de Leon Avenue just east of Decatur, according to plans filed with the county.
It also wants to build a 718,000-square-foot warehouse and add 2,600 parking spaces.
The changes come at a time when such farmers markets are seeing a resurgence in consumer demand for fresh fruits and vegetables, locally grown products and more ethnic items. What distinguishes these markets from seasonal ones is that they are permanent structures.
The Sweet Auburn Curb Market, located on Auburn Avenue near Grady Memorial Hospital and Georgia State University, is a nonprofit run by a board of directors appointed by the City Council. The city owns the land and the building.
"The market contributes to the community, not only as a resource for good, affordable food, but also as a gathering place," said Pamela P. Joiner of the Municipal Market Co., which runs the Auburn market. The market has about 25 vendors, including nine restaurants. At least two restaurants that started there have expanded to sites in other parts of the city. Joiner would like to see the market add more vendors with locally grown food.
Joiner calls the market a a job creator. For instance, most of the vendors are mom-and-pop operators who rent space, with each employing three or four workers.
She said the market has benefited from people moving back into the city. Visitation, for instance, has increased about 20 percent over the past five years. It draws shoppers from nearby offices, the hospital, schools and residents who need a close place to shop that's accessible by public transportation.
Jenice Owens catches the bus to the market. As she eyed a row of cow hooves in a case, Owens said she shops at grocery stores but likes the market for meats and vegetables.
Shoppers go for the same staples at the DeKalb market, drawing as many as 100,000 shoppers a year there.
“I’ve been here the day before Thanksgiving, when you can’t even move down an aisle,” said Stacey Lorish, a Grant Park teacher who was among a dozen shoppers waiting one recent morning for the store to open. “They do need more space for people to shop at busy times.”
Owners Robert and Barbara Blazer did not return repeated calls for comment about their plans. But the proposal shows a recognition that being the go-to grocer for the growing farm-to-table movement means a need for a more pleasant shopping experience.
First up is a request for a new driveway -- or two -- into the market from DeKalb Industrial Way. The market owns the wooded land behind its shop bordering that busy road, which could offset traffic jams at the single entrance on Ponce.
The market also has proposed adding more room for its in-house restaurant, which offers cafeteria-style options but limited seating.
“They haven’t submitted the whole concept yet, but we know it gets very congested inside and outside there, especially during the holidays,” said Andrew Baker, DeKalb County’s associate planning director.
The Atlanta Regional Commission is now reviewing the overall plan. Its recommendations on how the proposal will affect transportation and other nearby properties will be taken into consideration when DeKalb begins its review.
The county’s work can’t begin until the owners submit more specific details on the concept, Baker said. The owner has discussed expanding in phases, with the driveways slated to open by next year. Some of the work could take as long as a decade.
Aaron Zaretsky, a development consultant who specializes in the renovation and creation of public markets, said there's been a resurgence in public farmers markets. He said markets in Detroit, Philadephia and Seattle are not only viable, but so are their surrounding spaces.
For example, Pike Place Market "led the resurgence in downtown Seattle," Zaretsky said.
"The idea of the public market is that there are many owner-operated small businesses that reflect what is unique about a community and serve local products that people buy week in and week out. ... Part of the reason people go to public markets is for the social experience. They go to meet a friend, for the music, the art and history," Zaretsky said. "Not because they have to buy a vacuum cleaner bag."
He's not impressed by the Auburn market, though.
"I think it's an embarrassment for the community in Atlanta," Zaretsky said. "It's in a community that really needs the kinds of jobs and economic development that a properly developed public market would bring. It really deserves to be a showcase for that community and for Atlanta. What they need is not spiffing up but a whole new development plan and vision that puts it front and center as one of the most important institutions in the community."
He advocates greater private and public use of the buildings that surround the market.
That's also something Joiner would like to see.
"The streetcar is going to make people see this as an opportunity to redevelop some of those buildings and vacant spaces," she said, referring to the $84 million trolley line the city plans to run from the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site to CNN. It's expected to be completed by next year.
"We have accomplished much in the past nine to 12 months to improve the building and bring new vendors to the market," she said. "We also recognize we have a ways to go to accomplish our ultimate goal, which is to become a market the city and the surrounding community can be proud of."
About the Author
