This year, Liverpool’s market will look a little different than it has. When it opens for the 2012 season on Friday, May 25, merchants will be set up at the Hank Snow Home Town Museum at 148 Bristol Ave.
The executive committee made the decision to move the market because of the amount of wind by the water. Joanne Scobey-Sutherland, chairwoman of the Market on the Mersey Society, says the wind made having musical entertainment challenging. Scobey-Sutherland says another concern with the former location was visibility.
“We felt that by moving to a higher-traffic area, we would get more (people),” she ways.
During the summer, the museum has live music and fundraising barbecues, and Scobey-Sutherland is hoping the market will coincide with this.
She says the market will sell a number of things, such as coffee, produce, baked goods, and arts and crafts. There are a number of vendors selling other items too.
Planning for the Market on the Mersey began in the fall of 2010, and it opened on May 20, 2011, says Scobey-Sutherland.
She says she thought it was important for Liverpool to have a market because many people like to shop locally. She adds some people don’t want to have to travel to shop, and some people can’t travel because they don’t have vehicles. Markets also help to support local businesses, she says.
Scobey-Sutherland says she has about a dozen vendors and is looking for more. Anyone interested has to fill out an application form and buy a license from the Region of Queens. Vendors also have to fill out a market form.
“Upon the executive’s approval, you’re good to go,” she says.
The cost to be a regular vendor is $50 for the season. Occasional vendors pay $10 each time. Tables aren’t supplied, and Scobey-Sutherland says most people use the plastic fold-up ones.
“So we basically provide you with a 10 by 10 space. That’s what’s covered with your fee,” says Scobey-Sutherland.
Depending on what a vendor is selling, she or he might also have to get a food license.
The market is set to run through the spring, summer and autumn from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays until Oct. 5.
Those interested in being vendors may contact Joanne Scobey-Sutherland at 902-530-6182 or by email at marketonmersey@eastlink.ca.
