> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Market gobbles up business - URL: https://www.smdp.com/market-gobbles-up-business/ - Published: 2007-11-22T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T04:03:46.000Z - Author: Kevin Herrera - Tags: Business, Downtown, #archive-import *Farmers’ Market experiences ripe pre-Thanksgiving sales* DOWNTOWN Molly Gean was so busy Wednesday helping customers snatch up her fresh green beans and strawberries that she barely had enough time to talk about the biggest shopping day of the year and how it will help her pocketbook. “It’s crazy busy today for the whole market,” said Gean, of Berry’s Juice, as she handed a customer a bag of ripe red tomatoes. “People who don’t come to the Farmers’ Market all year come out today in droves. The regulars get a little annoyed, but it’s good for us because we sell a whole lot more.” Held the day before Thanksgiving feasts, the Wednesday Farmers’ Market in downtown is traditionally the busiest market of the year as hundreds of shoppers flock to Arizona Avenue for fresh produce to be incorporated into holiday meals. There is dark green chard, bright purple turnips, yams to be candied, russet potatoes for mashing, roasted pecans for pie, juicy celery and fresh bread for stuffing, as well as herbs and spices to give the family bird a kick. “The day before Thanksgiving has just had a feverish level of people shopping,” said Laura Avery, who manages the city’s four Farmers’ Markets. “A lot of people have waited until the last day to shop, but more than that, it’s people who are really feeling the holiday spirit and give into this luxuriousness or excess and go over the top. “A lot of people have been waiting all year to try certain recipes,” Avery said. “I’m baking poached pear tarts.” The market, with roughly 80 vendors, definitely has the old-world feeling of buying food directly from the farmer. But to get the best products, you have to show up early. Because of the demand, City Hall allows farmers to begin selling their goods as soon as they set up, which is at 7 a.m. If shoppers aren’t there when the market opens, they can be disappointed with the slimmer pickings. “A lot of the good stuff is gone already and it’s only 9:30 (a.m.),” said Linda Engel, a loyal Farmers’ Market shopper who was picking up some herbs and baby spinach for Thanksgiving dinner. “There are always more people here today than at any time of the year, and it can be a little frustrating because of the crowds, lack of parking and all that, but I’ve been doing this for years, so you kind of get used to it.” Engel really has no other choice. She can’t stand buying produce from local supermarkets. “The food isn’t as fresh and it just doesn’t taste the same,” she said, as she pushed a large cart filled with items west on Arizona towards Ocean Avenue. “The fresh fruits and vegetables here just taste great. I don’t know if it’s because they’ve just been picked or what, but all I know is the taste just isn’t the same.” Avery said no official head count has ever been taken, but from experience, she can say the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the biggest day of the year for farmers. There’s only been one day when it wasn’t and that was a few years ago when it rained heavily during the market. Very few people showed up and farmers were forced to sit in their trucks and pray for the rain to end. “A lot of the farmers were disappointed,” Avery said. “In 26 years here, that was the only day when we didn’t charge the farmers any fees for setting up. We felt that they had already had a hard enough day.” Farmers weren’t disappointed Wednesday, as shoppers willingly traded one green for another. “This day is great because people are more willing to spend and aren’t just around browsing,” said Kimberlee Graham-Knight of Flora Bella Farms, an organic operation based in Kings Canyon. “People are really buying in bunches today and are shopping with a purpose. We’re seeing a lot more dollar bills.” One such shopper with purpose was Rich Devins, who said he was planning to spend around $60 at the market, picking up chard, carrots, herbs and yams for his family’s Thanksgiving feast. While a supermarket is more convenient and less crowded, Devins said he would rather face the large crowd so that he can get the best tasting ingredients. “It’s one of those rare times when dinner becomes the focal point of the day and you have all your family around the table, so you want to make sure you have the best of the best and there’s nothing better than chard that tastes like you just pulled it out of the ground,” Devins said. “I’ll pay a little extra to make sure that happens.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 22, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)