As ideas continue to be tossed around in an effort to bring more people and business to downtown Estevan, a new concept is gaining traction in the community.
The Estevan Downtown Business Association discussed the possibility of a downtown market at their meeting last week. President Laurel Buck said they were brainstorming ideas on how they could create excitement and traffic downtown, and the market came up.
鈥淲e decided to name it a community market,鈥� she said.
The association doesn鈥檛 want to take away from the Estevan Farmers Market Association, which has weekly sales Saturdays at the Estevan Shoppers Mall from April to October.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we think can maybe compliment it,鈥� said Buck.
They have talked about having their markets on a Wednesday or Thursday evening from 6 to 9 p.m., or later in the day during a weekend. They asked people on their Facebook page when it would be most convenient for shoppers.
Saturday morning and early afternoon would be out due to their desire to not compete with the farmers鈥� market.
If they have sales on weekday nights, then Buck expects most of the businesses would be open for evening shopping as well to offer even more selection for shoppers.
Initially the association suggested using the large parking lot in behind the House of Stationery, but they have had so much interest ideas from potential vendors that now they are considering closing part of or all of the 1200-block of Fourth Street, where many of their members are located.
It鈥檚 not known how many vendors the House of Stationery parking lot could hold.
鈥淎t this time, we just wanted to see if there was any interest in this at all from the public, and so far, yes, the response has been good,鈥� said Buck.
The next meeting is scheduled for March 25, and they will discuss it again.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to see a lot of home crafts and homemade items or home-grown items,鈥� said Buck. 鈥淏ut at this point, we鈥檙e certainly open to anybody with something unique to sell.鈥�
It would also be open to house-based businesses.
Food trucks are also expected to be part of the downtown markets.
A lot of the people who are already participating in the Estevan Farmers鈥� Market sales have reached out to the action committee, looking to be part of the downtown markets.
鈥淎 lot of them have said if it鈥檚 not at the same time (they would participate),鈥� said Buck.
But she cautions that this idea is still in its early stages.
If everything goes well, they hope the first market could be in late May or early June. And if the support is sufficient, it would be able to run weekly from early May to late September after this year.
