Farmer’s Market Spotlight: Beat the Heat

It was a sticky, humid evening in Old Town last Friday for the second week of the Lilburn's Farmer's Market.

Even Chopper, the Gwinnett Braves mascot, made only a very brief appearance due to the heat.

Some of the market volunteers said that they were fighting the heat by handing out water bottles to vendors and getting donated ice from Stone Mountain Ice. Customers could fill up on sweet, organic popsicles from King of Pops or try some authentic Italian ice or Hawaiian shave ice from Antonio’s Italian Ice.

Mandy McManus says that Friday evenings offers a cool alternative for families and allows vendors to sell their goods at multiple markets over the weekend.

“Vendors can double dip,” she said.

The year-old farmer’s market has switched to a bigger and better location, created a new website, built up its advertising efforts and has even added a portable toilet to accommodate everyone at the market. The changes have prompted a strong response from the customers.

“Our Facebook page is increasing,” said McManus. “We’re trying to get more likes.”

The Lilburn market had been located next to the police station, but McManus and her business partner Andrea Brannen, decided to move it next to the train tracks so as not to obstruct the cops from doing their jobs.

“We didn’t want the police to be a few minutes late to a call because of the farmer’s market,” she said.

Brannen said that the idea for the farmer’s market came after city councilman Johnny Christ approached McManus with the idea when he visited markets in other Gwinnett County cities.

“At that point, Mandy had never been to a farmer’s market,” she said. Brannen also had little experience with farmer’s markets, but jumped at the idea to help her friend start a new venture.

One element they’ve added to their market is a community organization component. Churches, private schools, scouts organizations and a host of other groups are able to sponsor nights or set up booths to sell bottled water for their causes.

McManus and Brannen hope that with these partnerships, they can highlight the organization as well as bring new customers to the market.

“What we found is if you come to the market once, you’ll come back,” said Brannen.

McManus said that to look out for the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to be at upcoming market days, and the VFW will be on hand during Fourth of July weekend.

Brannen looks forward to the Lilburn Farmer’s Market getting better each year. “We don’t think we can grow too much,” she said.

Or as their shirts say, they want to continue to provide Lilburn “a tasty way to start your weekend.”