Walt Disney once said, "If you can dream it, you can do it."
That's the MO of Burnaby resident and farmers market manager Ron Gorman, who hopes to bring its winter counterpart to the city next year.
"I think Burnaby has been wanting it; I just don't think we've been in the position to entertain the concept until now," he told the NOW. "The previous manager, Lynn Hainstock, runs her own business out of Mexico for half the year, so the logistics were never there."
The process of establishing a farmers market during the snowy season however, is still in its infancy. "Right now, we're searching for a location that offers both indoor and outdoor spaces. We have a few options, including the Scandinavian Centre and another spot in north Burnaby," Gorman said.
So what would said market look like? Gorman envisions the majority of vendors to be grocery-based.
"You really need to be sensitive to what the area is asking for, and for Burnaby, it's a grocery-based market. There are artisan booths that I've been surprised to see maintain quite nicely.
"There are all kinds of possibilities of what we could do here. We've got a regular rotation of musicians, so there's that as well," he said. Organizers also want to see an increase in food-truck options, given the rising popularity of food-truck festivals.
Gorman noted winter markets have been a growing trend over the years because people are getting excited about the products they're buying. "My education and learning has grown exponentially each year since I've been part of the market," he said of his business Wild West Coast Seafoods, which has called the Burnaby farmers market home for the last six years. "It's due to the fact people are selling things they're invested in."
While no official count of foot traffic was done during this year's summer festivities, Gorman said the Saturday affair was highly received and he expects the same for its sibling.
"We made more strides in having an online presence with our social media and saw a huge response," he said.
According to the entrepreneur, adding a winter market would also help generate more revenue for Burnaby. "Statistics just came out that showed farmers markets draw $5 billion nationally. That's a pretty big number for small business," he said.
Vendor and customer feedback will be sought over the next year. Gorman said a questionnaire will be printed in their farmers market newsletter. City officials will also be kept in the loop in the months ahead.
"We'll tell them, 'Here's what we're thinking.' We don't want to start up a market for the sake of starting up a market."
