Kingston farmers' market vendors looking for winter quarters

BY NANCY KELLY

Kings County Register

After it wraps up its inaugural summer season, the Kingston farmers’ market will move to an indoor location and keep offering a “shop-local” experience in Western Kings County.

Market manager Colleen McKinley says the outdoor market, Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m. in the former Foodland parking lot at the corner of Bridge and Main Streets in Kingston, will end the first week of October. “For our last market, we are planning some special events, including pumpkin decorating for kids to benefit a local charity,” reports McKinley.

While the new indoor location has not yet been confirmed, McKinley says the market is in negotiations with the Greenwood Mall to operate midweek in the mall. “They offered us the space and now we need to nail down the final details.”

McKinley says the indoor market will continue to offer a “good diversity” of local products, and making a move to the mall would be good for vendors, who will benefit from mall traffic. “They will be able to continue building a loyal customer base,” important to the long-term viability of the market, McKinley adds.

While the market’s first few months have been positive, McKinley admits introducing “an alternate way to buy local groceries,” has been challenging. “We have to keep in mind it took years for the Wolfville market to get established. But, people know about us now so we have to just keep at it and change people’s habits so it becomes more automatic for them to take advantage of the market and a buy-local option.”