New Farmers’ Market Coming to the Steeplegate Mall

Starting in June, Concord will have a third farmers’ market.

The Concord Farmers’ Market organization is opening a new market on the Heights, at the Steeplegate Mall, between Sears and Loudon Road, starting June 5.

The new market will run from 3 to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays through the end of October, according to Wayne Hall, the new president of the organization.

So far, 15 of the vendors currently participating in the Saturday market on Capitol Street, outside of the Statehouse, have confirmed participation, Hall said. The Saturday market re-starts on June 1, he noted. 

The organization had been trying to figure out a way to get the market up to the Heights because there is a different demographic of customers there that, Hall said, deserved to get access to locally grown, quality food products. He believed that with the retirement communities a short distance away, regular bus service, as well the hub of traffic that the mall location offers, a Wednesday market will be successful.

“Once they get a taste of it, it will pretty much sell itself,” Hall stated. “It’s tough (for some folks) to get down to the Saturday market. We were thinking, as a board, it’s time to get a market into that area.”

As with anything, location is everything, and a number of potential sites were offered up. However, safety, cleanliness, access, and the amount of space needed, were key. Some of the vendors have large refrigerated trucks that take up a lot of space, he said. The board of the organization also wanted to make sure that as many – if not all – of the vendors from Saturday could fit into the Wednesday market, if they wanted to. Customers, if they missed Saturday's or ran out of food, would be able to get beef, fish, the vegetables, breads, and even doughnuts, if they wanted them, Hall said. 

“We needed a lot of space,” he said, “Steeplegate was nice enough to grant us what we needed, with a little space for expanding if we want to next year.”

This is the second attempt to bring a market to the Heights.

James Cusano, Dick Patten, and others attempted to establish one at The Stove Barn location but they weren’t able to keep the effort going. The organization hoped that this effort would sustain itself, Hall said.

The addition of this market will bring the number of markets in the city to three. Along with the Saturday market downtown, the Penacook Farmers’ Market runs on Monday afternoons during the summer at the historic Rolfe Farm.

The Penacook market opens June 24, and will end on Sept. 30. The market will run 4 to 6:30 p.m., according to organizer Mike Cotton. The market will be closed Labor Day weekend. There are 10 vendors confirmed at this point, but more are expected, he said. On Friday, June 21, Harry Chapin's brother Tom Chapin will be performing at Merrimack Valley High School, in an effort to promote farmers' market awareness. 

Hall, who recently started as president, said he is excited about his first year leading the organization, calling everyone involved, “phenomenal people” to work with.

“These people are a great bunch of people,” he said. “They produce their own products. The products are good. They are good New Hampshire people. If it weren’t for the people, I probably wouldn’t do it. We have the best market in the state.”